


Death in Space

by BeanNighe



Series: Death in Space [1]
Category: Dead Space, Young Justice (Cartoon)
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Batman BAMF, Blood and Gore, Blood and Violence, Body Horror, Ellie BAMF, First fanfic second attempt, Gen, League family, Poor Robin cant catch a break to save his life, Robin being BAMF, So much violence, Team Family, Then being scared and sad, bad dead mothers, little cussing, scared and tramatized children, so much BAMF, tends to get depressing
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-01-16
Updated: 2017-07-26
Packaged: 2018-03-07 20:28:10
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 12
Words: 57,508
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3182060
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BeanNighe/pseuds/BeanNighe
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After being sent on a covert mission on the Ishimura, Robin has sent a mysterious distress message to the League about a strange artifact called The Marker. Now Robin must fight for his survival and his sanity on Titan, five in a half month later after the message was sent. Can Batman and the Team make it in time to save the little bird or will Robin be overwhelmed by the creatures and visions of his dead mother.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Distress

**Author's Note:**

> So I originally came up with this idea in 2012, and had the first three chapters posted on Fanfiction.net, with the next twenty chapter written and ready to be revised and posted. Then my computer crashed with a virus and everything deleted, and on top of that I forgot my flipping password to the site and my own email address. Considering it was my first attempt at a fanfiction I was to devastated to do any more. Well now I'm giving it another shot, cause darn it the idea never went away.  
> So enjoy my second attempt to my first and only work of fanfiction.
> 
> All characters and places belong to their respected Owners (unfortunately for me)

Chapter 1: Distress  


Mount Justice  


August, 1st  


1800 Hours

All was quiet within the cave, save for the activity in the kitchen and den. Megan hummed softly a new tune from cheerleading and floated about the kitchen gathering supplies in an attempt to bake a cake as Connor followed close behind. Kaldur read his book in an armchair across from the couch where Artemis sat and watched Wally, amused as he paced back and forth in front of the T.V.  


“Oh man, I’m dying here. Rob is suppose to be back soon from that covert mission thing he was on.” Wally talked to everyone and no one, not really caring who listened. “Six and half months, he’s been gone! He better had taken pictures of the ship he was staying on, what was its name again? The Isha-something or other.” The speedster stopped in his tracks straining his brain for the information his best friend had given him six months prior.  


“The USG Ishimura.” Roy said from his place beside the female archer, trying to hid his own excitement on seeing his ‘little brother’ again after so long. He worked on his arrows not allowing the others to see the smile that threatened to take over his normally stoic features. Never let it be said that Roy didn’t miss the youngest member of this team, and man did he miss the little bird.  


Wally stared at the older ginger a moment as he processed the new information before a large grin stretched onto his face. “Yeah that one, the biggest planet cracker in existence right? Dude he is so lucky, I would die to be aboard a ship like that.”  


“Why?” Connor spoke for the first time that morning, confused at the teen’s desire to go into space at all. From what he understood all space was is a vast gap of emptiness populated by stars and planets far spread from one another.  


Kaldur looked over the edge of his novel that had only half held his attention. “From what Batman had explained, it was a simple covert mission, to observe and report his findings upon return. I doubt he had much time at all to really enjoy the sight of space or the interior of the ship.”  


Megan tore her eyes off the cookbook she was looking at and smiled brightly as she stirred a bowl of something green. “I would think that being on a ship that big would be exciting.”  


“Exactly, that’s why I should have gone too! Can you imagine all of the scientific calculations it must take to move a ship that big or keep it running? And don’t forget about keeping the oxygen and life support system levels steady or the radioactive core from overheating. What if something happened and Rob needed me there to fix the ship for him?” Wally practically vibrated where he stood.  


Artemis snorted, “There are hundreds of engineers, scientists and doctors on that ship to fix any problem that comes up. Besides knowing you, you would probably blow his cover; blow up the ship, or more likely, both.” She smiled at the glare the redhead sent at her.  


Before Wally could come up with a smart counter remark the Zeta Tube announced the arrival of Batman. The teens all paused for a moment, until simultaneously jumping up and making their way to meet the Dark Knight. Naturally Wally was the first to make it to the room, bouncing where he stood when he stopped with excitement. The man in black glared at the boy with annoyance that seemed to fly right over his red top. Only when the full team was present did the experience hero speak.  


“The Watchtower radar has spotted and received a docking request from a small carrier heading for Earth’s atmosphere. The League has agreed to let all of you come up and greet Robin when he lands.” That said the Dark Knight turned and walked back towards the tube not bothering to see if the younger heroes would follow.

~

The Zeta Tube flashed as Batman and the team walked into the main room where they meet the rest of the League members. The team split up, each going to their respected mentors voicing their excitement to their others. Wonder Woman turned to The Bat with a smile on her face. “Looks like we weren’t the only ones who missed your little bird.” Batman said nothing, but looked toward the Amazon with a small smirk.  


The Watchtower announced the arrival of the carrier and the hanger bay doors opened, and the small ship slowly made its way onto the landing pad. The heroes, young and otherwise, froze. The state of the craft was, disturbing. In many places the vessel was dented, or was missing parts altogether. The engines barely kept the ship upright, when it landed with a loud bang once the gravity field hit the vessel, and stilled, having finally met its desired destination.  


Batman was the first to react, moving quickly to the fallen vessel and opening the door that lead to the control room. The interior was just as bad, if not worse. Wires hung from the ceiling and sparked, while bits of metal from the walls had been torn and bent, the pilot seat looked to be cut into with jagged blades. What caught the Dark Knight’s attention, however, was the blood that stained the seats and controls. Enough to look as though a group of individuals were drained dry and their insides sprayed out as a terrible paint job. Handprints could be seen smeared on the inner glass of the craft and along the walls and floor.  


Bruce felt his breath hitch and his heart pick up speed at the sight of the gore that decorated the interior of the pod. By now the rest of the group present came over to investigate on their own. Megan cried out and covered her face with her hands as she sob at the sight. Connor, the ever caring boyfriend, held her to his chest as his super sight caught every detail of the mess that lay inside. The rest had fear and shock plastered on their faces.  


Wally swallowed and said what was on everyone else’s mind. “W-where’s Robin?” His voice was small, but with the quiet that overtook the room no one missed the glitch in his words. Roy clinched his fists the same way his stomach did, unable to tear his sight away from the pod.  


Bruce shoved his fear aside and began to make observations. `It’s possible the blood does not belong to him. Too much DNA to sort through before a possible match could be found in time. In time for what?! Damage to the interior and exterior suggest something tried to make its way in. And succeeded! Carvings along the walls and seats are deep showings signs of great strength made in the act. Or was the blade sharp enough to cut through thick metal and bone like butter?! There is too much for it to be him, unless there is more than a single body involved. But then where is Richard!? Where the hell is my son!?’  


He didn’t get far in his investigation before every worst case scenario flashed before his eyes. He gritted his teeth and move closer to the controls hoping there would be some kind of clue. The bloodied monitor flashed an auto-pilot programming and coordinates that had run the craft. Right next to it Bruce noticed a small screen displaying a video message. Using a USB cable he downloaded the message and turned toward the large computer and monitor at the end of the room.  


The others watched him go before following. “Have you found something?” Wonder Woman asked placing a hand on the distressed father’s shoulder. The rest stood silently waiting for a reply, tensing slightly when the Dark Knight looked back at them.  


Bruce looked back, watching the young heroes stand beside their mentors, and felt dread wrap its fingers around his stomach. Glancing at the woman beside him for a brief moment before turning his gaze to the floor, “I don’t know.” He went back to the computer and hooked in the cable and sent the video to the large screen. The monitor began to flicker and he stepped back. “I hope so.” He whispered to himself. The small prayer didn’t go missed by the Kryptonian and his clone.  


The static cleared slightly, enough to see the “BEGIN MESSAGE” text printed on the screen. The text disappeared, and the image showed a dark room and an empty seat.  


Within moments of starting a small figure in an odd spacesuit sat heavily in the chair and sighed through the helmet. With trembling hands the masked figure slowly removed the head covering. As it came off no one could stop the sharp intake of breath and gasps that filled the room, when the little bird’s face was revealed underneath. He stared at the helmet in his hands tiredly, looking but not seeing what was in front of him.  


His youthful face was battered and bloodied from the various deep cuts and scrapes that married his once smooth skin. Blood ran from his nose and the corner of his busted lip, crimson liquid was caked on his forehead right beneath his hairline and trailed down to his chin. Sweat damped his hair and fixed the strands to his head, black ink mixing and contrasting greatly with pale white skin.  


The members of the young team of heroes took all of this in, however were more surprised at the unhidden irises that stared off into nothing. The boy’s eyes exposed for all to see, and they looked empty, lifeless, tired, numb, haunted. The once bright sapphire orbs that glowed with youth and mischief that Wally and Roy remembered were gone, replaced with a broken hopelessness. Artemis gaped with recognition at the freshman boy who goes to her school. However Conner, Megan, and Kaldur took extra notice of the purple bags under his eyes that were dark and heavy, hanging like drapes on a hanger.  


With another quite sigh, the image looked up from the helmet and moved his eyes back and forth around the room observing, but never moving his head, as though afraid to make any sudden movements. Finishing with his small task Robin leaned forward in his seat and placed his arms folded across the flat surface. Everyone become aware of how he softly trembled, from the cold, fear, or exhaustion they were unable to tell. Then with a shutter the little bird began to speak quietly, his voice raw and strained, however loud enough for the viewer to hear what he had to say.  


“I don’t know if you will see this. If the craft I’m sending this on, will ever make it to you, or if I’m even recording at all and are simply talking to myself. However if there is an off chance that you do get this, I need you to listen to me carefully.” Everyone cringed at the callousness of his voice and the boy swallowed before he continued.  


“As should be known to all of you, I was sent on my first long term solo-covert mission. Upon the USG Ishimura, a deep-space ship and planet cracker, funded by the Wayne Co. The objective was to uncover its hidden motive for the unplanned and illegal stop to the planet Aegis VII. Poised as a guest along with Richard Flag, who was invited aboard by Mister Wayne in his place as an observer of the progress on the ship for future funding possibilities.”  


“As stated in my first report I arrived safely in the company of a few engineers and scientists that were also welcomed aboard the Ishimura for detail work. And for about a week I made sure to keep regular reports on my findings on what is happening on the ship, rather than the option to maintain radio silence unless something went wrong” Robin’s face grew grim as he continued speaking. “However it has come to my attention just recently that all of my reports have been tampered with, and the real reports were never sent off to begin with.”  


The Dark Knight glared at the screen, kicking himself for not realizing sooner that the typed messages he was being sent were fake. “So that means…”  


“I’ve been compromised.” His ward finished for him. The League tensed and their teen counterparts felt sick.  


“So what they attacked him or something?!” Wally cried out in desperation. Artemis and Roy were quick to shut him up when the raven started to speak again.  


“Despite coming to this conclusion this late, no one has approached me or has stopped me from roaming the ship beforehand other than a few engineers who were trying to work on reinforcing the ships anti-gravity rooms. Someone knew who I am, probably watching me since I got here; yet, they let me snoop around the ship.”  


“I don’t understand.” Superman intervened at the bird’s pause. “If someone knew, but he was never approached then what the heck happened?” Wonder Woman looked back at the Kryptonian with a concerned expression until till the report resumed.  


“Which means I will have to be quick in explaining everything leading up to the current situation I find myself in. Upon my arrival upon the ship it became known why the illegal trip to Aegis was made, there is a secret mining colony on the planet, one funded by LexCorp. To harvest any organic material that could be brought back to earth that would have…unique properties valuable enough to fund his own Planet Cracker Corporation, and put Wayne Inc. out of this particular business. And they found something. Big.” Typing on the keyboard, the boy brought up a picture of a large, oddly shaped rock.  


“What is that?”  


“This, this is the Marker. An artifact that was uncovered beneath the planet’s surface not far from the colony. The Marker is a holy relic among many of the people on the ship and the planet, the religion going by the name of Unitology.” As soon as the name was said, Bruce went into Batman mode and sent the name to the bat-computer back home to gather as much information as possible.  


“Following almost directly after the artifact was discovered homicides and suicides on the colony below skyrocketed. The population of the colony was cut in half in just that week.” He paused again in his longwinded report and sighed, suddenly looking years older. “Friends cutting one another down, co-workers blowing each other’s brains out, families,” Robin grimaced as if he obtained a bitter taste on his tongue. “Then something else started to kill off the rest. Not wanting to risk being found out about being in a restricted area, Captain Matthias refused to send men to the surface to investigate or call for help. As soon as the Marker was secured onto the ship, the Captain made the decision to abandon the colony and the few remaining survivors to their fate below. Only, he made the decision to late.”  


“He was going to leave innocent people to die out there?” Artemis whispered.  


By now the League’s baby bird was shaking so hard they could hear his suit creak, his eyes shined with unshed tears and he tucked himself into a small ball in the chair hugging his arms between his legs and torso. Wally and Roy felt helpless as they could only watch their ‘brother’ try to compose himself long enough to finish. And Bruce, well, he was ready to break the screen with his fist in his own frustration.  


His head resting on his knees no longer looking at the screen, his eyes seeing something else, Robin continued once more. “In a matter of hours, the ship was over taken by the creatures that took the colony. It only took a few firkin hours, hours until the entire ship went to hell and most if not everyone is dead or one of them.” He chuckled at that. “It’s like the damn zombie movies Wally, Roy and I used to watch. Only they don’t eat you, and their smart, God, their smart.”  


Roy looked at Wally and their eyes met. “Zombies?” Megan’s voiced quietly.  


“Yeah, you know when,” Wally licked his lips nervously. “The dead body of a person gets up and starts walking around and eats anything alive. But it’s pretend, not real, just stories for scares!” He quickly added that last part at Megan, Connor, and Kaldur’s horrified expressions.  


Artemis glanced at him. “If it’s fake then why is Robin saying otherwise.” The younger ginger had nothing to say at that and looked back toward the screen.  


Robin had a hand resting in his hair, pulling at it now and again. “At first I couldn’t do much other than run. So I did. I could hear people dying, hear them screaming for mercy or help, and I just kept running. And I-I couldn’t bring myself to stop.” His voice shook. “I could hear them behind me too, screeching, trying to turn me into human confetti.” Each one paled at the mental image that last sentence left them.  


Suddenly he stopped talking, eyes never returning to the screen, staring at the wall behind it with a closed off, blank expression. For a full minute no one said anything, silent as graves waiting, some even holding their breath, for him to go on. Another minute passed before he said anything speaking in a small voice.  


“They want our bodies, they need our bodies. The dead turn to them and then they turn us dead. It’s a never ending cycle. But they can’t have it. It’s mine, my body, my bone, my blood, it’s mine,” His tone was mono, almost robotic as if he’s been saying it to himself over and over again before this. “IT’S MINE!” He screamed, starting everyone, as his fingers dug into his upper arms so hard Bruce was worried he would break through the armor.  


A sound was heard in the background and the bird froze, pure terror like nothing they have ever seen from Robin planted on his face. His pupils dilated and his was no longer breathing, in fact from what the team could see he stopped moving completely. Slowly he turned to the left and stared intently at something off screen.  


After a few moments he quietly let out his breath and whispered to the screen still staring to the left. “I haven’t got much time left.” He swallowed again. “They’ll find me, they always find me. They use the vents to move around the ship.”  


Robin took a shaky breath and sat back into his seat, relaxing slightly but never quite letting his tense shoulders uncoil. He licked his cracked lips and proceeded to wipe away the blood pouring from his nose as though just realizing it flowed freely down his face. The League watched with practiced eyes, picking up immediately at how tired the boy suddenly appeared to be, and how he aged in a matter of seconds as the adrenaline left his system only to be replaced with thick laced fatigue. Covered in gore, grim, and only he knows what else, looking as though he just came of a battlefield. Another minute of steady breathing and trying to rest his weary tiny frame he started once more.  


“The colony has been lost. The crew is dead or mutated. And the whole ship has been reduced to nothing more than a lifeless graveyard floating in space. This isn’t an SOS, I’m not sending for help. I’m telling you to stay the hell away.” The child’s tired face gave way to one of serious determination. “So do not come for me. I’m not fool enough to think that I’ll still be alive when you get this, nether should you.”  


The League and Team gaped at the younger hero trying to process what he said. “What do you mean you’ll be dead when we find this?!” Roy practically hollered at the screen.  


“When was this sent?”  


“He’s been gone for 6 months.”  


“Robin said this nightmare started a week after the Ishimura docked at Aegis VII. How long ago was that?”  


Everyone yelled over one another trying to figure out whether or not what he said was true. It was only when Batman whistled loudly did everyone quiet down. On screen Robin was spinning his chair absently from side to side. A thousand yard stare in his hollowed out eyes. He was chewing his busted lip.  


“I’ve seen how they work. Watched what they do to survivors.” The voice that echoed off the monitor was in the best of terms, dead. “The symbols on the Marker aren’t there for show, I figured it out. It’s a blueprint, sends out a radiation of some sort.” Robin tilts his head and rested in on the back of the chair, gaze toward the ceiling. “Was in a group before, Marines all of them, five including me. Their gone now, dead, either by the hands of those monsters, each other, or themselves. And that, that is how they work.” Megan couldn’t suppress the shudder that ran down her spine when Robin whispered that last sentence and looking around the room on one else could either.  


“If they don’t kill you, you will kill yourself.” The raven haired child looked back at them with a broken smirk, and everyone felt the temperature in the room drop. “Not out of mercy though, there is no mercy here. No, not to end it before they do, to die on your own terms and conditions. Nope, nope, nope.” He popped the p. “You do it because they want you to, because the Marker wants you to.”  


He leaned forward in his seat, smirk still resting unsettlingly on his face. “Causes people to lose their heads, and then they take out anyone they can before turning on themselves. Talks to them, talks to me. Can hear it.” He taps his temple. “Hear them. Right. In. Here.” He tapped at each pause. “Ben seeing things too. Things that aren’t there, hearing the dead screaming in my ears one moment then gone the next.”  


At this point it’s clear to the entire room just how dire the situation really is. That their baby bird is now simply talking for the sake of simply talking. That the Team’s little brother and the League’s first adolescent hero is, or has lost his head.  


Clark stepped beside Bruce. “What’s wrong with his eyes?” Bruce side-glanced the alien beside him before zeroing in on his son’s irises. The Bat almost bit his tongue when he noticed the faintest hint of red surrounding the inner pupil. Casually as not to rouse suspicious looks from the other present him the room he entered detective mode and used his lenses to snap a picture and zoom in. Right on the outside of his dilated pupil, slowly spinning around the inner iris was crimson markings resembling the ones carved on the Artifact.  


“Oh my God.”  


“You see it?” The super never looked away from the screen.  


The Caped Crusader didn’t answer.  


“I can see my mom.” Bruce almost choked on his own building saliva. “She’s walking around the halls.” Robin’s eyes have lost the red but are quickly becoming glossy as tears stream down his blood stained cheeks. “She’s trying to kill me, and it’s real.” A small sob escaped his throat as he brought a hand to his eyes and attempted to wipe away his tears. He only succeeded in smearing the newly wet blood across his face. Never before have the heroes felt so helpless to guard and protect one of their own.  


Another sound from the background startled individuals both on screen and off, whatever the noise was seemed to snap the baby bird out of his fluke with a new found terror and determination. “I can’t stay any longer, it’s not safe to linger in one spot and I’ve overstayed my welcome.” He looked back, sadness and longing swirling within his dull blue eyes.  


“I’m sending several files on all the information I’ve gathered during my stay here. Please, if you get this, the Ishimura and the Marker must be destroyed. There is a list of names of the people on the ship and colony, if you could set up a memorial or give their families some type of explanation, closure. Many brave men and women died serving aboard both and are deserving of some form of burial and remembrance. Even if in the end we all lost are minds.” His eyes went glassy once more as he bid his final farewell. “Don’t let us be forgotten. This is Robin, signing out. And if you do get this dad, I’m sorry. I miss you. All of you.”  


Just seconds before the young hero could cut the video a loud crash on metal came from inside the room. The Team and League could only watch as the startled child twisted himself toward the source of the sound and gritted his blood stained teeth together. Quickly rising from the chair and producing an odd looking gun and aimed it at the off screen offender. An inhuman screech filled the air that had everyone watching turn their blood cold as they covered their ears in a pathetic attempt to drown it out.  


After shooting three rounds, Robin turned back to the monitor as more screeching and banging sounds could be heard. A few taps of the keyboard and the record stopped, but not before something forced its way into the room behind him.  


“Wait!” “Go back!” Roy and Wally ran forward only stopping when the bat glare found its way to them.  


Batman tapped on the keys rewinding the recording just before the video cut. “There, right there. What is that?” Wonder Woman pointed to the shadow that came into the room.  


“Can you zoom into that, and clean it up?” Green Arrow was practically on top of the Dark Knight, much to his annoyance. Pushing that aside for now however, Bruce did what was asked and the image produce sent some of the younger league struggling to hold their lunch.  


On the monitor held the sight of what once looked like a human being, but inside out. Bone protruding and exposing organs and gore. Batman quickly minimized the picture when Wally lost the fight with his last meal, Megan and Kaldur holding him up.  


“What the Hell was that?” Connor struggled to hold in his temper, the details of the ship now match with the possible culprit did little to ease his nerve.  


Nobody held the answer but looked toward the visibly distressed father at the front of the monitor, his hands balled tightly in a fist. Rage and hatred and guilt filled in his heart as he gritted his teeth. He turned to face the others, and upon seeing his face they got the idea.  


All the knee weak fear fell from their bodies as stubborn determination took its place. Daddy Bats was going to find his baby bird and get him back if it killed him. And the League and Team were right behind him.


	2. Awakening

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Awaking up in an unfamiliar place Richard is forced to run from the monsters he thought he destroyed back on the Ishumura. However, necromorphs aren't the only thing he needs to run from. Bound in a straight-jacket Robin must do whatever it take to survive.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm going to do my best to post a new chapter once a week, either Thursdays, Fridays, or Saturdays. But if not I'll make sure to mention it.  
> Trigger warnings! I went excessive on the gore details. But it is a Dead Space crossover so what did you expect. You have been warned.  
> All characters and places etc. belong to their respected owners.

Chapter 2:  
Awakening  
Sprawl, Titan  
Asylum sector of the Sprawl’s Hospital  
1600 Hours

 

He felt like he was floating, no coherent thought passing through his head, just peace, silence. Floating in a void of his own mind, only half attempting to piece together how and why he was here. Nothing to be seen, nothing to be heard, nothing to be felt. Not wanting to disturb the tranquility he stayed still, unmoving as the current of unseen waves carried him down a concealed path.

As he floated carelessly he heard his name whispered, but the voice sounded a far distance off. He paid it no heed and continued his journey to nowhere. Then his name became louder, closer and the caller’s voice became slightly clearer. Having nothing else to focus on the young teen concentrated on hearing for the call again, there it was, but closer now. The voice was soft and silky, a voice that had once comforted him long ago as a child. Now, however, that voice came even closer, and the sound of its words, his name, sent his blood cold in dread. The voice called to him again, its tone deforming into a distorted, sickening sound, nails on a chalkboard.

 

The young vigilante snapped his eyes open and looked in the direction of the echo. No sooner did his eyes open did he see the broken face of the woman he loved dearly as a child, illuminated by the surrounding darkness. He froze unable to move from the paralytic terror that seized hold of his body.

 

The woman was inches from his face and he could see every disfigurement on her body. She wore a sleeveless white gown that was covered in crimson stains and black soot. Her wavy reddish brown locks stuck to her caved in skull like wet mold, her nose shattered with blood pouring from every opening on her once beautiful clean face. Her body was busted and broken much the same way it was after her fall to the earth. Limbs twisted in at wrong angles, but what held his attention the most was her eyes, or the lack there of the deep blue irises.  
“Richard, mommy loves you Richard. My little bird, mommy always loves you.” The destroyed corpse smiled as best she could as she reached for his face with both hands, bones creaking with the effort, cupping his cheeks. Dick choked on his breath as he attempted to stop shaking. She continued on with her word of love as a bright light lit itself behind the black of her eye sockets and open mouth. “I love you Richard, make us whole my little robin.” Her voice became louder till she was finally screaming in his face, nails digging into his cheeks. As hard as he tried, Richard was unable to fight the sudden onslaught of fatigue and closed his eyes. “MAKE US WHOLE.”

~

 

The screaming stopped, though another piercing sound quickly took its place when Richard slowly opened his eyes again. When his eyes finally adjusted he found the light was still shining in his face but his mother was nowhere to be seen. Instead another filled his vision as he was forcefully brought back to reality by the flashlight waving from side to side in front of his irises. Training kicking in, Robin analyzed the room finding only two other individuals beside himself, speaking to one another in hushed tones, trying to move and sit up the young bird realized he was strapped to a table in a straightjacket. Panic began to build in his stomach; he did not allow himself to act on it. ‘That never works well for anyone.’ One of the two individuals turned upon hearing him struggle in his bonds.

 

“Oh, thank The Marker your finally awake,” The man said as he began to remove the straps. Richard tensed up when hearing mentions of The Marker. The man turned to his partner, a blond woman standing near the door. “Tell me if anything starts coming this way,” He yelled over the screaming siren and looked back at the boy. “Listen I know your scared and confused, but I need you to trust me okay. I’ll explain later I promise but we need to leave now. Don’t worry I’m going to take good care of you, alright.”

 

Just before he could undo the straightjacket however the woman let out an ear piercing scream as a creature landed in front of her from a vent in the ceiling. She backed up further into the room and aimed her pulse rifle at the thing following her in. Richard’s pupils dilated as he instantly recognized the monster that entered the room. The small boy began to thrash violently in vain to release the restrains holding him and leaving him venerable to attack. “SHOOT THE LIMBS!” Richard could hear his voice crack as he screamed at her.

 

She did as she was told, aiming for the offending appendages and missing most of the shots. Succeeding in removing one of its arms, the woman wasn’t fast enough to avoid the abominations last stand. Both carcasses fell with a thud, her lower jaw absent from her face, and blood pooling beneath them. The man stood in horror as he stared at the gore on the floor bringing a hand to his mouth to refrain the bile rising in his throat to spill. The sound of the young boy fighting against his restraints brought him back to reality and his mission. He turned back to the ebony child.

 

Dick watched the young woman fall and froze. The fog in his head had not entirely disappeared and briefly wondered if he was dreaming. Remembering his lack of mobility he returned to his struggle against the jacket. The man came back to him with hands shaking more that before and attempted to release him. “I-I’m g-going to get you out of here okay, I’m going to get you o-“

 

Richard watched in muted terror. Blood poured from the man’s forehead stopping him mid-sentence. A long, thin bone tail had implanted itself right between his eyes. Just as the infector behind him removed it’s appendage from his body began to spasm. The boy remained unmoving as the man holding him rapidly decayed and mutated.  
His neck became longer as his spinal cord snapped and lifted upward, skin and muscle peeled from bone as his body temperature rose causing veins and arteries bust. The man’s uniform ripped from the middle as his abdomen produced small appendages and his intestines swelled. Eyes turned milk white before they split apart to make room for the small muscle like tentacles shot his eyes sockets and his mouth. His screaming became animalistic as he underwent the unnatural transformation.

 

Rodin’s mind went blank as his survivor instinct kick in, adrenalin burned through his system. Without thinking his body acting on its own will to survive the little bird head budded the mutating corpse in the jaw, causing the monstrosity to stumble backwards stunned.

 

Not waiting for an invitation Robin ran into the hall where he stopped, shaking his head to clear some remaining fog from his distorted skull. It was then that Robin could hear the screaming alarms were for an attack or quarantine. Looking up at the additional sound of multiple windows and metal vents being broken and tore through Robin saw numerous necromorphs quickly closing in on him. A quick glance behind him confirmed what he saw was no dream and the one he collided with was beginning to advance on him as well, that was more than enough to motivate him to start sprinting as fast as he could.

 

As he ran down the corridor the creatures followed him while others fell from the ceiling or emerged from the nearby air vents. Robin refused to look back as he continued forward hearing them close on his heels. Suddenly a slasher fell in the boy’s path and swiped at his head. Quick reflexes, skilled training and sheer blind luck, Robin dropped to his knees and slid under the blade-like protrusion of bone before it made contact with his neck. He watched the blade pass his face with seconds to spare, slicing the tip of his dark bangs, before spinning on his knees and recovering his brisk pace down the hall.

 

Further ahead Robin could see a door that led into another area of the medical facility. Hearing the things close behind him, he used every ounce of adrenalin he had to all but race to the opening and make it before they did. Just as he passed the door, movement off the corner of his eye caused Robin to turn his body sideways as the dead playing necromorph leaped on his lap. His arms being bound Richard had no way to balance himself while supporting the intruder or catching himself as they fell. His head made contact on the floor with a sickening crack making his skull bounce back up.

 

Feeling the extra weight on his chest Robin’s eyes snapped open despite the pain radiating in his head and proceeded to dodge the sharp edge that tried to dismember him. Behind the threat Robin noticed that the door looked ready to lock down for the quarantine, unable to use his hands he positioned his feet under the homicidal monster just right and kick out with all his might. The force caused the creature to fly into the door’s path as it closed, severing its being in half vertically.

 

The room was all but silent after aside for the low beep of a heart monitor and Richard’s heavy breathing as he attempted to calm himself down. The adrenalin slowly crept out of his body and exhaustion quickly took its place. He could feel his stiff legs burned from a sudden over exertion of use, and his head throbbed behind his eyes. Once his breath was steady again and he managed to stop the tears that trekked down his face Richard looked around the room from his position on the floor to analyze the area.

 

‘No sign of immediate danger, the infection must not has spread this far. By the look and smell of the place I’m in a hospital. Not the Ishimura, no, too well lit and clean. Not enough bodies or smears of blood either. Not back home, they were wearing station uniforms, but what station am I at? What ship? Where am I, did they somehow follow me from the Ishimura. But I destroyed The Marker, which should have stopped them. Right?’

 

The boy remained on the floor to gather his thoughts before shifting his weight and standing up. The sudden wave of dizziness would have been concerning if he didn’t have other things to worry about. He could feel something wet soak the back of his neck. Looking down Richard now noticed his bare feet, slightly bloody, cut and cold on the tile. Unable to do anything about it, he turned to the dilemma at hand and took one last shot at trying to wiggle out of the jacket that kept his arms strung together. No use, he was stuck.

 

“Sure wouldn’t mind having super strength at the moment, totally not feeling the aster right now.” He mumbled under his breath. ‘Batman would have been disappointed.’

 

Not wanting to linger in one spot for too long Richard slowly made his way across the room on the balls on his feet careful not to make any sudden movements, but ready to act quickly should the need arise. As he passed a medical curtain the beeping of the heart monitor began to quicken before finally falling into a long continuous beep as its host’s heart failed to respond. Dick could only glance sadly at the still form that was already covered with a sheet. He said nothing as he walked through the door on the other side of the room, his feet making a faint tap sound with each step.

 

As the door opened Richard stepped into the next area and stopped when he caught sight of two men in uniform with their back to him. They were both armed to the teeth with heavy powered rifles and thick protective covering. An uneasy feeling passed though the little bird when he saw them. ‘Something isn’t right, these guys aren’t here looking for survivors. But they look ready for war.’ Seeing how he couldn’t go back the way he came and clearly the guards weren’t leaving their post as they chatted with each other as if everything was completely fine.  


‘Do they even know what’s happening? Okay, act innocent, something happened to my doctor and I’m lost. Best case scenario, they take me into custody and question me. Maybe I can explain what’s happening and get help before it gets worse.’

 

Slowly making his way toward the men Richard starts thinking of a way to explain the reason for the straightjacket without sounding like someone from Arkham. Making his way around the stretchers scattered around the tight corridor Dick winces as stubbed his toe on one of the wheels. The guards spin around at the noise aiming their guns and the ebony’s head. Blinding him with their flashlights, before a word could come out of his mouth the guards were already shouting alarmed to each other.

 

“That’s him, shoot!” Bullets flew past the little bird, one grazing his cheek as he dove for cover. Abruptly a vent in the ceiling crashed to the floor and a muscled appendage pulled one of the guards up with it. His screaming stopped with a wet sound. Before the other could react Robin was on the floor crouched low in front of him. His face devoid of all emotion and eyes wide with a red tint swimming in his sapphire orbs.

 

As the man tried to shoot his unexpected target, the boy used the guard’s gun and forearm to flip onto his shoulders, knees cupped firmly to the sides of his helmet. Using his momentum and lower body strength, Robin twisted his waist causing the soldier’s head to do the same. His cry was cut short with an audible snap of his neck. The body slumped to the floor unmoving. The little one landed on the balls of his feet and stared blankly at the corpse over his shoulder.

 

Feeling a small tap his head Richard looked up and watched blood drip from the hole in the ceiling. He stood there for several moments, unseeing as blood painted and stained his pale skin drop by drop. A smile stretched across his face and he chuckled a bit before turning toward the door at the end of the room and made his way out. Just before he could step through the opening the torso of the missing guard fell on the floor from above. Robin stared unaffected by the sudden arrival. Another smile graced his chapped lips, a menacing gleam in his discolored iris.

 

“Guess I won’t have to worry about you getting in my way anymore, should have watch your head there.” Robin stepped over the carcass and entered another area of the room. His eyes lost its red tint and the smile disappeared as he climbed the stairs, leaving him confused to why his cheeks suddenly hurt.

 

The door opened at the top not revealing much of anything except desks and few monitors, a video recording played on the far end of the room. Richard cautiously entered the room, his footsteps practically silent. Curiosity struck him when he heard the monitor say something about symbols being whispered. Dick went to the screen to watch the recording as it went back on loop, starting from the beginning.

 

Nolan Stross was introduced as the man bound to the chair. He was a patient that much was obvious as was the fact that he was nervous and jittery. Didn’t help that the doctor was manhandling him either. Clearly distressed he kept mentioning ‘her’ and ‘they’ in the session, then the symbols. Richard bit back disgust when the doctor suggested he was trying to help him. Then when he refused to answer the questions directly the video was cut after the doctor said to put him back in stasis.

 

Richard reviewed what Stross said “’It hurts, still hurts.’ ‘No I’m not ready, I can’t do another session.’ ‘It was a black room with symbols and they put so much in my head so much shit in my head.’ ‘It said it wasn’t my fault! That they didn’t deserve to die that I didn’t deserve this! Fucker.’”

 

It wasn’t hard to piece together what happened. Nolan Stross was sickened by The Marker; he killed someone important to him in his delusional state, he was detained, and they were running tests to figure out what happened to him. ‘Was he a survivor brought from the Ishimura like me, or from the colony? He was at this station, being treated. Is he still alive or did he fall to The Marker’s influence?’

 

A noise startled the boy out of his thoughts. ‘Doesn’t matter now.’ He move toward the end of the room searching for a door. When he rounded a corner however he met another individual facing away from him, back hunched over. A male in a white doctor’s uniform was standing in front of what looked like a view window into a room below. Dick could hear him mumbling something to himself. As he got closer to the distracted man he could clearly hear him as he spoke with dread coating his voice.

 

“All dead, their all dead, dead, dead, dead. What can I do? Their dead. Nothing I can do. All dead.” Richard continued to inch forward when the man sprung and grabbed him by the collar lifting him on to the wall. A scalpel was in his hand and its cool blade rested against Dick’s neck. “I know you. I remember you, Patient 4, Tidmen said all subjects were to be eliminated.” The doctor giggled slightly as he dug the blade deeper into the boy’s skin.

 

Richard was all too familiar with the demented gleam in the man’s eyes. He’s seen it right before the insane individual would kill himself or anyone alive around them. Richard couldn’t tell if he would be the man’s first kill or not. ‘This hasn’t been going on for that long right? Maybe I can still reach him.’ His thoughts were spinning.

 

“L-listen to me,” the blade dug deeper. “I can get us out, both of us. But I need to get out of this straightjacket first. Help me and I promise I can get you out.” That was a lie; Dick doubted he could get even himself out let alone someone else, but trying to give hope to a hopeless seemed like only way to get through to the man.

 

The man looked at him for a while, studying the teen’s face. A smile crept back on his face and he laughed. “Will it matter? No one is getting out of here unscathed, not you, not me, no one.” His bloodied smile got bigger, threatening to tear his cheeks.

 

Richard’s eyes widened and he shook his head, struggling in the man’s grip. “No, don’t do it, I can help! Please, I can help.” The blade left his throat, headed toward his abdomen and he thrust the scalpel into the suit. Dick involuntarily winced as he felt the blade make contact but not pierce the skin. The good doctor let go of his patient and Dick looked down to find his arms free. He stretched the stiff limbs trying to return feeling to them as they creaked in protest.

 

Richard looked back up toward the doctor. He was still smiling. “There is no escaping from what I’ve done.” He laughed a bit, shoulders shaking from the strain. Robin only now noticed the blood that covered the front of his suit and hands.

 

“Just take it easy, okay.” The little bird kept his hands out in front of him in case the man suddenly turned hostile. The former doctor’s face went from a giggling grin to a straight, emotionless expression in seconds. The transformation sent a shiver down the ebony’s spine and he swallowed hard. “Look whatever you feel you did, we can make it okay. We can fix it.” Richard did he best to comfort the obviously disturbed individual. His reassurances sounded pathetic even in his own ears.

 

“Your rig is red, and your head is bleeding.” He said suddenly. Richard felt the back of his head where his skull made contact with the floor not long ago, pulling back from the tender spot his hand was covered in crimson. He didn’t say anything. The doctor pointed to a small locker in the corner next to him. “There’s a flashlight and a med kit in the wall locker. You should grab them.” Dick slowly made his way toward it, casting glances at it but never taking his eyes off the doctor to long. When he made it Richard opened the locker and sure enough the items were there. “Go ahead, take it. I won’t be needing them. Not anymore.” He said with a dry snicker.

 

Richard grabbed the med kit first, unsealing the needle and injecting it slowly into the vain near the base his neck. He shuddered then felt relief as the drug took effect, dulling the pain in his head, clotting the blood that flowed freely, and finally sped up the healing process of the broken skin and muscle cells. Dick sighs and grabbed the flashlight, he turned it on to be sure it worked before turning back to the doctor and froze.

 

The smile on his face was back with a vengeance, plastered there that reminded Richard uneasily of Joker. He stared at the little bird the scalpel still firm in his grasp. He lifted the blade and pointed it at Dick. “We’re all going to burn for what we did to you.” Richard stiffed realizing exactly what the man was about to do. Before he could intervene the previous doctor brought the blade to his neck and proceeded to cut out his own throat. Dick watched him horrified as blood spilled from the man’s esophagus and mouth like a waterfall, covering the floor beneath him. The doctor stepped back onto the wall and slid to the floor coughing up his life’s water all over himself. Finally, with one last choking gasp the man went limp, staring into nothing with unresponsive orbs.

 

Richard stood there watching the man, struggling to get his mind to comprehend what he saw. This wasn’t the first time he’s seen this, and by how things are going it won’t be his last. It didn’t make seeing it any less hard. He didn’t move until the blood came in contact with his bare feet. Walking toward him, unbothered by the fact he was stepping in the man’s blood, Dick knelt down in front of him, pressed his eyelids shut and relieved him of his scalpel.

 

Before the boy stood up he stared intently at the corpse and whispered to him knowing he wouldn’t receive an answer. “What exactly did you do to me?” His question gone unheard and the little bird got up and proceeded to the exit, only pausing a moment to look back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is taking place during the second game, so some of the chapters will feel familiar. However not all of the chapters will be just a retelling of the game. So don't worry about that.  
> Anywho, let me know how I'm doing and if I'm succeeding in entertaining you with the story so far. Review are greatly appreciated.


	3. A Helping Hand

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Finally out of the straight-jacket, Richard makes his way through the hospital to find a way out. When a call from a stranger declaring a want to help him, Richard makes an uneasy pact in order to make it to safety. Add a few injuries to the list and horrid discoveries don't make for a pleased Robin.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was one of my favorite chapters to write the first time around, and it still is. 
> 
> Trigger warnings:  
> Cursing, gore, gun violence, body horror, panic attacks

Chapter 3:  
A Helping Hand  
Sprawl, Titan  
Medical Personnel Office  
1600 Hours

Robin held the flashlight in front of himself like a gun simply out of habit as he walked sideways down the hall. His back toward the walls and eyes watching every ventilation shaft that came into view with caution, another habit developed. After what happened on the Ishimura, Robin wasn’t about to be attacked from behind or surprised by a shattered vent. He had to learn that lesson the hard way, a repeat incident wasn’t necessary. 

Going down another set of stairs Richard had to catch himself several times on the railing. His legs were like jelly since the adrenalin crept out of his system, not to mention he was still dizzy from the smack on the head he got earlier. Med kits could only fix so much damage. At the bottom of the stairs was a darkened hallway, the only light coming from the broken double doors at the other end. Dick swallowed and slowly proceeded into the hall toward the doors. A figure sped past the opening and made a shadow in its wake causing the boy to freeze and hold his breath listening for anything that would cause alarm. He counted to ten slowly in his head before releasing his breath and moving forward into a side room.

It was pitch black, the only illuminated thing in the room was a flickering digital clock that sat on the other side. Richard turned on his flashlight and shined it in the darkened space. Tables and chairs were scattered across the room with the bodies of what looked like dead patients on the floor. Blood painted the walls and furniture, and the desks held various games and crafts, the later bearing similar appeals to The Marker. 

Careful not to move to quickly and attract unwanted attention, Richard maneuvered around the obstacles. As he reach the door and was about to leave a sudden light and loud static sound filled the room. Robin jumped to the left and spun on his heel throwing the stolen scalpel. The blade made contact with a monitor that displayed a scene of a serene landscape filled with mountains and distorted music.

Richard picked himself up from a crouching position and took a moment to catch his breath and slow his heart rate, bat-glaring at the disturbance. After a moment though he smiled a little and tilted his head back with a sigh. “Getting too jumpy there Dick, need to stay focus, stay calm.”

Retrieving the scalpel without electrocuting himself, he continued on his way. Stumbling a bit Richard made his way toward shower house. He paused to examine his front. ‘Not even an hour into this nightmare and I already have blood all over me.’ Not thinking much of it Dick walked up to a nearby sink and turned it on, testing the water. “Probably won’t make much of a difference anyways, but better safe than sorry.”He mumbled to himself as he scrubbed the crimson from his small fingers. “At least it’ll look like I haven’t killed anybody if I meet someone sane here.” Studying his hands as he washed made Richard stop his actions. 

Nine. Nine. Nine.  
He was missing a finger.

His pinky finger on his left hand. ‘How did I not notice that before?’ His hands shook as he stared at the missing flesh. It was a clean cut, no torn skin or broken bone. It wasn’t even a noticeable injury, just absent from where it should be. “When did this happen? I don’t understand. That didn’t lose it on the Ishimura did it? I would have noticed. I don’t remember ever losing my finger, oh God its really gone! Why can’t I remember what happened?” 

Richard could feel himself about to be sick as he racked his brain for an explanation, an answer to this terrible discovery. Coming up with nothing was building even more panic and his breaths were coming in gasps. ‘I’m missing something. God, there a gap in my memory. What happened?!’ Forcing himself to calm down before he had a panic attack, Dick pointedly looked away from his hands. 

And right into the mirror. Richard stared at the stranger gazing back at him. He leaned forward on the sink to make absolute sure it was a mirror he was looking at. The image copied him and he bit his lip.

“Oh God, how long have I been here? I don’t even look like me anymore.” His voice wasn’t higher than a whisper as he continued to gape at himself. A hand rose to gently touch the reflection. But when his incomplete appendage came into view he shoved it down again. 

His face was white, almost transparent aside from the dark circles around his eyes and blood that stained his skin. His hair that was once full and thick was dull and flat with a trace of ashen grey somehow mixing with black. Cheeks were sunken in and shallow, eyes swollen and, he noticed with passive interest, he had a badly broken blood vessel that tainted the whole of his right eye red.

Poking at his concaved appearance it was then he discovered he didn’t feel good and realized that his energy was too quick to go. He lost weight, not just a pound or two either, no more like fifteen or more. The little bird racked his brain to try and remember when he last eaten anything. It startled him to become conscious of the fact that he doesn’t know how much time has passed since the Ishimura and now, or what happen in between. The panic was starting to return.

The reflection in the mirror came across older with worry and stress lines but younger due to how big his thinned out face made his eyes appear. And that was the biggest impact on him; his eyes were no longer their bright pure deep blue but instead were a stormy grey. They more resembled that of a dead fish, no longer holding the same color and shade as his mother. The thought scared Richard more than he cared to admit to himself. 

Captured by the image in front of him, his focus glazed over and his iris caught a crimson tint. The room became white noise filled with scarlet, shadows grew, and everything became heavy and claustrophobic. Behind him Richard saw the silhouette of a creature start to creep close to his turned back. Robin was quick to dodge an expected assault, bringing his flashlight and scalpel to meet his attacker to find. 

Nothing.

Just as soon as the room changed it was gone again. Dick panted with nervous tension searching the shower house for the intruder. It was gone, in a blink of an eye, his eye. He turned back to the mirror and examined carefully for the unexplained misplaced color in his orbs he swore was there a split second ago. It was gone.

“Must have been that broken blood vessel I saw. I guess I hit my head harder than I though. Starting to lose it.” He rubbed the tender spot on his head. “Seeing things is the very last thing I need right now, thanks.” He scolded himself for being paranoid and quick to panic, giving himself one last look over he left the mirror, keeping his eyes away from his hands.  
Leaving the washrooms Richard proceeded down another corridor to a dead end. Dick caught sight of a maintenance tunnel. “Well, that brings back memories.” He smiled tiredly as he thought of the newly found group cramped in a small vent trying to escape Cadmus. 

Richard found a terminal and pulled the wires inside making the access panel dance to his will. “Man, talk about a primitive system. Someone needs an update on their security.” The door was hacked in less than three seconds. The shaft opened and Dick jumped, fingers latching to the bottom of the opening and he pulled himself inside. Finding another terminal inside, he closed the panel behind him and began to crawl. As he turned a corner a figure quickly went the other direction causing the little bird to discontinue. 

After counting to ten in his head once more, Richard went on. He could see from ahead that the shaft tilted upward but before he could reach it the ground under him collapsed. Despite all his training for the unexpected, Robin smacked onto the floor, hard. Teeth digging into his bottom lip as his bit it on impact. The wind knocked out of him Richard laid there watching the world continue to spin even as he held still.

His headache was back again, and when the room stopped its rotating he smirked. “Well, if I didn’t have some form of concussion before I sure as shit have one now. Wonder how many times I’ll smack my head on something before this is all over.” He mused licking his newly busted lip.

Getting up, Richard walked toward an elevator using the wall as support. When he entered the cart a decapitated body leaning in a corner gave off a continuous beep. Robin stared at the corpse as he pressed the first floor button. After a minute he realized that the rig’s communicator was going off on the body. The little bird knelt down and pulled off the upper chest plate holding the front part of the rig and answered.

“Hello?” Robin asked, the chest plate responded by opening up and a holo-video feed came into view in front of him. A woman appearing in her late twenties and a serious expression showed on the screen. With blond hair pulled into two tightly braided buns and hazel eyes that glared at him she replied.

Richard Grayson I presume?” Her voice held a no nonsense but rushed tone.

Dick was startled by the quick address of his name, but quickly masked the surprise under suspicion and distrust. “Yeah? You seem to have me at a disadvantage here. Who are you and how do you know me?” 

Either the woman didn’t care at how the boy questioned her or she hid it well, her face remained the same. “My name is Daina Le Guin. As to how I know you’re name, it is unimportant at the present moment. Now if you want to live to see another day you will do exactly what I say when I say it.” She tone never changed as she spoke to him.

Robin felt his temper rise as he glared back at her. “And why the hell should I trust a word you say Miss. Le Guin?” The thought of being pushed around by someone he just met and barely knew was enough to set him off, especially after the Ishimura.

The woman gave signs of impatience and made her voice sterner. “Because Mr. Grayson I can get you out of here and to a safe environment. I am here to aid in your escape.”  
“Who said I needed aid? I’m doing just fine on my own.” Robin let a bit of smugness coat his attitude. 

“You’re bleeding.” Daina motioned toward his head unimpressed.

Smirk gone Robin bit back a curse as his hand felt the top of his head and found it newly wetted by liquid red. “Just had a bit of a rough start.” She raised an eyebrow. “Why, may I ask, would you want to help me anyway? You apart of an evacuation team, because I must say you’re doing an asterous job of that so far.” He snapped back voice filling with sarcasm.

Her eye twitched and Robin silently congratulated himself. “No I am not a part of any evacuation team. You are Richard John Grayson, age fourteen; alias includes Robin, The Boy Wonder, and partner to the Dark Knight Batman. Also an associated with a small team of young sidekicks and the Justice League, known best for his acrobatics, hacking skill and sharp wit in the field.” Robin’s breath hitched, he stared at the offending woman with a cross between horror and shock. “Yes, I know who you are. That is why I want to help.”

The bird’s surprise died down as a withered expression replaced it. His silence caused her to sigh and soften her features. “I get that you don’t trust me, I do. But I’m not your enemy here Richard.”

“Not yet anyways.” He mumbled to himself. “Alright then who’s been shooting at me?”

“Tiedemann, he is the head of security here on Titan, he controls most of the network. He is having all of the main patients that were somehow involved or sickened by The Marker terminated, to cover up his own involvement with the artifact.”

“Still haven’t really answered my first question. Why help me?”

“Due to your role in the Justice League, is sensible that if you were to be saved, you could somehow relay contact with the League. By doing this there is a way to assist in saving lives on The Sprawl in the future, maybe even taking the city back.” 

“I’m not a member of The League, and I doubt that I can be of much help.” Robin’s eyes widened slightly as a thought passed though his head. “Wait did you say The Sprawl? You mean the first space colony on Saturn’s moon, that Titan?”

Daina nodded. “You are well informed Grayson. About three months ago, a search and recover team found a shuttle drifting in space. You were discovered heavily injured and disoriented inside. They brought you here for medical treatment.”

Robin processed the new information in his head as he watched the levels pass in the elevator. “So, if it’s known that I’m Robin, did anyone bother to contact The League while I was here?”

“You were mostly unconscious the whole three month you have been here, put into a forced stasis. Only a few select few individuals know your identity here on the Sprawl, as for contacting The League we could not reach them as we were out of range.” She was lying, he could tell. It was in her eyes, no one has attempted to contact The League or Batman. He kept silent on the matter, no use letting her know he was on to her.

“Okay, what about the Necromorphs. How did they get here?” The woman made a face, not understanding what he meant. “The creatures that are on the station, where did they come from.”  
She shook her head. “I don’t have the access or knowledge as to where this alien life form came from.” She was lying again. If it wasn’t for Batman’s training he would have the double blink she did as she fibbed. It was clear she knew exactly what was going on and she didn’t want to share. Robin decided right then this woman was not to be trusted but he’d play along for now.

“Alright.” She was good. He was better.

“So you will cooperate?” Robin nodded. “Good, I’ll download my position to your rig, and contact you every so often to check up on you. I have your rig set up on my computer; I’ll know your every move and location in case you get lost.” The passive threat was clear. “Try not to die.”

Daina disconnected the link as the doors to the elevator opened. Richard used a wire and connected the chest plate to the rig on his back and strapped it to his front. The glow of his vitals and a map shinned in blue in front of him. Satisfied with the connection he got up and walked out.

He was in a reception area that much he could figure out without the diagram to tell him so. The room would have been inviting with the aquarium and plush seats had the lights not been flickering or the mangled bodies littering the floor. The radio of a dead officer went off, the calls and panicked cries of fellow officers on the other lines. Next to the body was a pistol.  
Robin didn’t hastate to pick up the gun and look it over, checking the clip and safety. ‘I’ll have to try and locate some form of plasma cutter soon. A pistol round won’t do much good against them.’ Thinking absent mindedly as he continued on in a similar position with his back to the wall. 

Using the guide Daina provided for him, Richard navigated through the hospital. In and out of elevators, crossing several rooms containing machines and bodies alike with more than a few necromorphs to deal with here and there. Heading toward a new room Dick noted the warning sign of contained oxygen being used in the room. 

Stepping through the door he noticed a small fire in the corner, not much was thought of it until he saw the oxygen tanks dangerously close to the flames. Robin leapt and latched onto a bed that was bolted to the floor just as the container exploded taking out the wall that was a direct lead into space. Richard held his breath as the air was sucked from the room.  
The bed creaked and the little bird’s feet left the ground. A necromorph previously hidden behind another bed was blown out, along with the other various medical equipment that wasn’t rooted to the floor. Struggling to keep his hold, Dick saw a red emergency button hanging from the ceiling. Black spots appeared in his vision as the air was stolen from him. Aiming his pistol as it threatened to leave his grasp he shot the target. Having lost his battle for purchase with the bed Richard flew toward the vacuum of space before a reinforced wall slid up to block the opening.

Richard’s voice cracked when he screamed as he hit the barricade. The impact dislocating his shoulder, the force ripping the bone from its socket. He slumped to the floor gritting his teeth and fighting back tears, holding his limp arm. “Gah, shit. This is a disaster, extra heavy on the Dis.” He hissed between his lips. Knowing he would be dead in minutes if he left his arm unattended Robin grabbed his flashlight and stuck the soft handle into his mouth and bit. Then carefully, like Bruce had taught him before, he pressed the palm of his uninjured arm on the disconnected bone and thrust his hand upward.

The snap echoed across the now empty room was followed closely by a muffled scream. Richard released the bottom of his shirt and took beep breaths. “Okay, that wasn’t so bad.” He failed to notice the tears that blurred his vision as he sucked down the newly recycled air from the vents. Getting up he walked to the other door cradling his arm to his chest, teeth ruining his lip once more.

The area he treads into appeared to be a locker room. Walking further in, he nearly tripped on the dead playing necromorph that was on the floor. It jumped up and lunged at the ebony teen. Robin rolled on the ground evading the attack that came from the animated corpse. The movement cause agony for his arm and almost made the vigilante lose balance and awareness. 

Blinded by pain Robin brought up his gun and fired, shooting off the head. “Bad move, Grayson.” The bird cursed himself as the creature began waving its deadly appendages wildly hoping to catch its prey. Backing up into a wall Robin aimed steadily at the beings legs and shot through both. The monster collapsed, withered around before coming to a still.

Richard turned back to his arm, cradling it again as he tried to move his shoulder. “Could sure use another med kit right about now, you would think with this being a hospital they’d have plenty.” He winced. Looking up and finally gaining a chance to really observe his surroundings Dick saw a computer run store at the other end of the room and praised his luck with a smile.  
He limped over to the shopping center and cursed his luck again when he realized he had no money. An attempt at hacking the machine would only result in a temporary lockdown and blast an alarm across the area. He didn’t need that type of attention right now. Instead he turned back to the lockers and began rummaging through them. They were lockers belonging to patients here for checkups and Richard eventually found one belonging to an engineer. There he found a suit, one size fits all, and a few med kits.

Richard didn’t pause when he undid the needle and shoved it into his shoulder. The pain subsided immediately. Able to move his arm again without much of a problem, aside from the stiffness, Richard stripped and put the uniform on. It was several sizes too big, but messing with the hard drive in charge of the mechanical features he was able to shrink it down to a comfortable fit. He put on the gloves and boots doing the same, allowing the metal plating to compact itself with the fabric to get them to fit. After the job was done he continued to rummage.

Richard thanked whatever being was watching out for him when he found a plasma cutter and several rounds and clips beside it. More than content with his findings and feeling much more prepared for the road ahead, Dick headed out. The exit opened to a large area, a tall sign with the hospital’s symbol stood in the middle. At the far end of the room was a crashed transporter, and in front of that were seven of the Sprawl’s troops.

One glanced over and saw the little bird coming from the door way and shouted to his comrades. The voice was muffled by the helmet he wore but the intention was clear enough. They all began to open fire and Robin was forced to flee the doorway and take cover behind the hospital sign. “What the hell did I do to have these guys what me dead so badly?!” He shouted over the gun fire holding his hand to his ears to block out the deafening sound.

A loud screeching resonance of metal on metal echoed across the room, the noise causing Robin to hold his ears even tighter as he peeked out of his cover. The soldiers’ attention was no longer focus on the boy but rather the outsized creature that pulled itself over the crashed carrier.The abomination shared similarities to a leaper necromorph, but was undoubtedly made up of multiple carcasses. Each spliced body serving to add extra bulk and height to the monster. Its skin was dark and if it was gendered would appear more male than female. The only thing holding the torso up was its ridiculously long arms.

The men fired on the beast that entered the room, the fight didn’t last long. Jumping up, it landed hard sending a shock wave that shook the floor. Men fell to the ground blown back while others were crushed beneath its weight. Richard could only watch in morbid fascination as the necromorph all but destroyed its contenders. Robin hid in cover once more when its head inclined in his direction. He held his breath prying against fate that it didn’t see him. After counting to ten, he slowly peeked around the sign once more.

There was no God. 

It had seen him. 

The creature face was inches from Robin’s own when his head looked around the sign. It would have stared him in the eye if its face wasn’t upside down and the growth of skin didn’t cover its orbs. Richard could feel his blood go cold, his breath hitched. And if he wasn’t so well trained for the unexpected there’s a good chance the little bird would have pissed himself in terror.  
They stayed like that, frozen, for what seemed like hours. Richard didn’t seem able to gather enough air to fully breathe in. Finally the Brute lifted its large arm and slammed it down where the young hero was. Robin moved, running as fast as his abused legs would carry him, adrenalin pumped into his system. He spun with grace and aimed both the pistol and plasma cutter at the thing following him.

Walking backwards, taking careful steps, he fired repeatedly at the limbs. The pistol was the first to run out of ammo, it clicked empty as Robin kept pulling the trigger. The plasma cutter was drained not long after that. Robin cursed and flipped out of the way of the tail that whipped toward his feet, its arms barely holding together. He ran toward the downed men and grabbed a plasma rifle from the floor. A blow to the ground directly behind him threw the bird off his feet and sent him flying to the floor. He struggled to get back to his feet but only succeeded in rolling to his back.

The brute came barreling toward Robin. The boy raised his weapon and fired at its limbs once again, severing the appendages from its body and it crumpled to the floor. Richard put his arm down to help the other support him in a half laid, half sitting position on the floorboards. “Holy shit, that thing was pissed.” 

His com-link went off and Daina came up on the holo-video. “Richard, are you alright? What happened? Your heart rate spiked a second ago.”

Richard couldn’t stop himself from blowing up at the screen, stress, panic and frustration winning out. “Okay, I want to know what the hell is going on now!”

“What do yo-.”

“Don’t give me that horse shit!” He cut her off. “I know there is more to this than your telling me. I’m not stupid, or did you forget I was trained by the world’s greatest detective. I’ll give you a hint it wasn’t Sherlock. This attack by Tiedemann’s men seems a little too personal to me. Where are the necromorphs coming from!?” 

She sighed in defeat. “There is a Marker here on the Sprawl, where exactly I’m not sure. But I think these creatures are coming from that.” Robin tensed. 

“I destroyed The Marker.”

“No, you destroyed a Marker. Tiedemann built another one to use as a power source. When the attack started, he had anyone involved with it terminated to cover up his own actions.” The idea of being on the same station as that evil relic, again, sent shivers down his spin. She was telling the truth.

“Okay, then why do I feel that Tiedemann is personally calling me out?”

She was more reluctant to give him the information he wanted, a pointed bat-glare fixed that. “Richard, you are suffering from a very high and fatal case of dementia due to the direct contact and over exposure to the first Marker’s radiation. It’s killing you, that is why you were put into forced stasis, to slow the process. Untreated it will take over your entire mental state, and I’m sure you’ve seen what happens to the individuals who go through this. I can treat you when you get to me but only if you hurry.” Robin said nothing, his face impassive. She continued.

“You woke up in a straight-jacket in one of the highest secured room in the hospital because you are considered to be the most dangerous person on this entire station.” Robin stared waiting for her to get to the point. She sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. “Reading your file, I know you won’t like what I have to say next. Two days after you were picked up from that drifting shuttle Tiedemann and a fellow doctor attempted to question you on what happened on the Ishimura. You escaped your confines, you were hallucinating. They were finally able to subdue you, that’s why you’re missing your finger, but Tiedemann made it clear that if you were to escape again you were to be shot on sight.”

Richard examined his hand, eyeing the clean cut look of the missing appendage, and dreaded the question he was about to ask. “W-what did I do in the time I was out?”

She stared him square in the eye, not a single lie buried in her orbs. “You murdered nineteen of Tiedemann’s men in less than an hour, using nothing but a scalpel.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some questions are answered.


	4. Warmth

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After Being discovered on a drifting craft, Richard is brought aboard the USM Abraxis for interrogation on the destruction of The Ishimura. Tiedemann confident in finding the information needed learns not to underestimate a survivor of horrible circumstance.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No excuse for why this chapter took so long to write, except I had to rewrite it three times cause I wasn't happy with it. Its okay now I think, might be some spelling errors but I'm so done with this chapter so IDC. 
> 
> Dead Space and Young Justice are not mine, I just decided to combine the two.
> 
> Trigger Warnings: Blood, gore, breaking bones, child abuse, interrogation. But its a Dead Space fanfic so what did you expect.
> 
> Enjoy

Chapter 4: Warmth

USM Abraxis, Deep Space

Interrogation Room

Three Months Ago

 

The boy thrashed in the restraints holding him to the chair, eyes alight with a burning fury that caused most of the individuals in the room to take a step back. Never saying a word but placing his gaze on everyone as he twisted his wrists. Hans Tiedemann and an unknown man wearing a doctor’s uniform and mask stand observing the child in front of them. 

Unimpressed with the display of rage that seemed to engulf the adolescent, Tiedemann raised his brow to the shorter man beside him. “I assume you called me away from my business on Titan for a good reason, Doctor Foster.”

Said Doctor flinched out of his daze and turned away from the youth. “Well technically, the Overseer is the one who called you in for this interrogation, Tiedemann. I wouldn’t have bothered bringing you here in the first place, but orders are orders.” He growled.

Sighing he looked back nervously to the child who slowly stilled, but never lessened on the death glare he was sending everyone in the room. Amazing how menacing a malnourished and underweight boy can look with just the tilt of his brow. It was a huge difference to how they found him two days prior, barely recognizable as a human being beneath all the gore and scum. Now the practically comatose ebony was alive and clearly not happy with his current predicament. 

During his inner musings the Doctor looked up to find Tiedemann and the juvenile having an incredible stare down so intense there seemed to be an electric current running between them. Tiedemann only broke contact when Foster caught his attention. The smaller man tried not to notice the smug look of victory coming from the child. 

“Interrogating babies now are we? The boy looks about as threatening as a kitten with its fur fluffed up and claws out.” Foster wondered if they were even observing the same kid. The child in question looked mildly offended. “What the hell am I suppose to get out of him anyways. What did he do, steal a candy bar from The Overseer’s office. This is a joke.” Tiedemann turned to leave with an impertinent huff.

“This boy is the only known survivor of the USG Ishimura and Aegis VII we were able to find after its destruction three weeks ago. We have reason to believe the child has come in direct contact with the Marker. He was found drawing its symbols with blood in a drifting craft not far off.” Tiedemann stopped just short of the door and the teen tensed so badly the veins in his neck were visible. The doctor took a quick note of it.

“Good riddance.” The first thing the adolescent has spoken since being brought aboard, staring hard at the floor, knuckles turning white from the fists he was making. Hans stood with his back to the room ram rod straight. 

“So you were aboard the Ishimura then.” Turning suddenly and marching up the youth strapped in the chair and bending down to meet him at eye level, Tiedemann began the interrogation. “Well then son, can you tell me what happened? To the colony, to the Ishimura, to the Marker, whatever you can remember.” The child leaned back when the man closed in on his personal space and sealed his lips in a tight line. 

A tick of annoyance flashed across the leader of Earthgov’s features, before he leaned back with a smile. “Of course, I understand your hesitance to talk to a big scary stranger-”

“You are the furthest thing from scary I’ve ever seen.” Foster had to blink in surprise at the calm and confident tone the boy used when interrupting the bigger man. There was no arrogance to be heard in it with a poker face that spoke volumes of the control the youngster had over himself. That or the teenager was completely convinced by what he said.

“Let’s start off easy then, how about a name. Introductions, I’m Hans Tiedemann and you are?” Tiedemann continued with the friendly approach, when the boy didn’t answer he went on. “Your rig was not set as a member of either the ship or colony. Are you a stowaway?” The teen raised a brow. “I can assure you young man you won’t be punished if you are. We just want to know what happened. So, were you hidden away on the colony or the ship?”

“Neither, I was invited aboard the USG Ishimura in place of Bruce Wayne as a guest.” 

Foster could have smacked himself with his data pad. It became abundantly clear to him just who the child sitting in the middle of the white room was. He’s seen his face many times in the past on Earth papers and news programs. Judging from the stiffen posture from Tiedemann and the smug, cheeky smile the now named boy had, he knew they knew.

“Foster, why wasn’t I made aware that I was questioning the heir to the Wayne name?” Tiedemann never took his eyes off Richard, who sat like he owned everyone in the room.

The doctor flinched at the dark tone being sent his way and quickly looked to his data pad to hide his reaction. “When we found him his rig was badly damaged, we were unable to gain any information out of it whatsoever. With him being a guest he would have been given a temporary rig for his stay, which would explain why he wasn’t in the ship’s or colony’s rig core. And thus far this is the most he’s spoken since his recovery on the drifting craft.” 

Foster could of sworn he hear Tiedemann mutter “Excuses.” under his breath before tuning his full attention back to Wayne’s brat. “Alright then son, the sooner you tell us what happened aboard the ship, the sooner we can send you on your way back home.”

“I have nothing to say about what happened.” Richard turned his gaze from Tiedemann and looked at Foster. “Am I allowed a space lawyer? I want a space lawyer. You have those right? Lawyers, but like in space. That would be a cool career. What do you do, oh I’m a space lawyer. What about a phone call?” Foster gripped his data pad and gritted his teeth; the brat was playing with them. It would seem convincing to if not for the way he surveyed the room with knowing eyes and fake innocence. 

Tiedemann must have the patience of a saint, he didn’t even move. In fact he smiled a bit at the pointless rambling the teen was making. “Very well Mister Wayne-“ “Grayson” “Mister Grayson, if you don’t want to talk you don’t have to.” The Marines stationed in the room looked at one another in confusion, even Doctor Foster was unsure as to where Tiedemann was going with this. 

Tiedemann walked back to Foster with his hands clasped behind his back. “What are you doing? The Overseer wants the information the boy has by tomorrow.”

“Relax doctor,” Tiedemann spoke confidently, loud enough for the whole room to hear. “If the boy doesn’t want to speak of what happened, well that is his choice.” He gave a pointed look to the child who had already caught on to his game and looked to be mentally preparing himself. “Of course that doesn’t mean we can’t give him a bit of motivation to help him make the right decision and change his mind.”

The doctor’s eyes widened when he finally got the idea. Chancing a glace to the teen he saw his face set in grim determination and goading. “Mister Wayne won’t be please at the idea that you are interrogating his heir for being a victim and survivor in a horrible circumstance.” The ebony challenged, his steel voice never once wavering.

Tiedemann didn’t back down. “Of course he wouldn’t. The very thought of interrogating such a young boy who was made to go through so much tragedy would set off the media and most people with it. It’s just not a moral thing to do in any sense of the word.” The man shrugged. “But, as far as anyone knows there have not been any signs of survivors from either the colony or the Ishimura. And news of their loss may not even make it to Earth for another few months. You know how slow information can travel from one planet to another.” Richard did nothing but narrow his eyes.

“So that being said, Doctor would you kindly convince our young friend why it’s in his best intention to give us the information we so desperately need.” Foster didn’t need to be told twice. Using the data pad in his hands he started up the machine attached to the chair. Sensors were placed on the boys temples and it didn’t take long for them to do the job. 

Watching the child tense with a strangled gasp made most of the men in the room look away, but Tiedemann and Doctor Foster observed with passive interest. The boy bit his lip with little more than whimpers coming from his throat. 

Foster turned off the machine and read the readings the machine gave to his pad. Richard let out a breath and lowered his head blocking his face from view as he focused on breathing. “I must say I’m a little impressed Mister Grayson. Most men twice your age break from having their fears shoved so violently into their heads.” Tiedemann said looking over the doctor’s shoulder. “A fear of falling, not unsurprising given your history. So, have you changed your mind th-“

The man was cut off from the giggles coming from the smallest figure in the room, the sound causing everyone to grow nervous when it turned into full blown laughter. “Is that all you got?” The boy held his head high, tears gathering in his eyes but a victorious grin settling on his face. “I’m afraid you’ll have to do better than that if you’re gonna beat Professor Crane’s record.”  
Tiedemann and Foster were shocked into silence, till the head of Earthgov grit his teeth. “Well perhaps that level of fear was not enough for you. Doctor.” Using the pad the machine turned on once more, and continued to raise the level of power after each session. So it went for hours.

Tears fell freely from the teens face after the umpteenth time through the interrogation process; he refused to say a word. Blood blossomed from his ruined lip, but after each round he would breathe and lift his head with the same defiance as the first time. They had yet to hear an actual sound from him apart from small whimpers and startled gasps. 

Growing frustrated with the entire ordeal Tiedemann grabbed the boy by the chin and made the teenager look at him. “Is there any particular reason you refuse to tell us what happened?” 

Richard stared back unmoved, then turned his eyes to the symbol on the doctor’s wrist watch. “You’re a Unitologist.” 

Foster was startled by the keen observation. “Yes well very good eye child, but this was a gift from an old friend. It doesn’t prove I am involved in anything with the religion.” 

Richard gave the man a pointed look with a raised brow that made him feel foolish as he subconsciously used his other hand to cover the watch. “I remember you, Doctor Foster, you were among the men who came into the shuttle and found me. The minute you saw me, doing whatever it was I was doing, I heard you thanking the Marker for my recovery.”

“But, you-“ Foster choked on the words in his throat.

“I might have been a very convincing walking corpse Doctor Foster but that doesn’t mean I was unaware of what was happening around me. After surviving the shit I just went through you learn not to let your mind wander too far. You and your men didn’t pose a threat to me so I didn’t bother to address you.”

Tiedemann tightened his grip on the child’s face. “You won’t tell us what happened on the Ishimura simply because he is a Unitologist? Why should his religion matter in whether or not we get the information?” 

“I know how much the Marker meant to you people, but I don’t think you realize just how shit your religion really is.” Richard’s eyes never left Foster’s as he spoke with conviction. “The Artifact was found and now it’s lost, and it took everything else with it. The Colony, the Ishimura, and the Marker, they’re all gone, that should be enough information for you. If I were you I would look for a new rock to go worshi-”

The slap echoed across the silent room, effectively cutting the boy off his speech. Head snapping so quickly to the side one could hear his stiff neck crack from the force. Despite the hit being so unexpected and coming from someone as strong as an enraged Tiedemann, the child didn’t so much as blink. It was unnerving to everyone in the room when the boy slowly turned his head back to face Tiedemann with a detached expression. Cheek red and chin beginning to bruise, blood found its way from Richard’s mouth, traveling from his broken gums.  
Running his tongue along his teeth and catching the crimson on his taste buds, Richard regarded Tiedemann for a moment. “I see, you’re a Unitologist too then.” He turned his head to the side earning another crack from his spine. Gathering the red inside his mouth Dick spit the collecting pool in the Commanders face. “I stand by my earlier statement, I have nothing to say.”  
It took all of Tiedemann self control not to wrap his hands around the boy’s thin neck. Walking back to the startled doctor, Tiedemann wrenched the data pad out of his hands and activated the machine turning to counter to the highest number.

“Are you insane?! That level of intensity could cause brain damage-“ Foster wasn’t able to finish his rant and covered his ears at the sound of the animalistic shriek that ripped itself from the child’s throat. Most of the Marines in the room flinched at the horrid screeching the boy was making, even Tiedemann seemed alarmed. The readings on the pad were running to fast to gather anything on what the teen was experiencing, but from the sudden choking sound of ripped vocal cords it was enough to steal the pad back and turn off the mechanism. 

The room was silent once more, only this time the boy stayed limp in his seat, blood pouring from his mouth and nose without a sign of slowing. Foster walked up to the boy and put two fingers to his neck checking for a pulse. It was there, speeding blood rapidly in his veins. He then went to check his eyes, opening one lid up Foster saw the boys pupils dilated to pinpricks and rolled in the back of his head. 

“Perfect, just perfect. Well done Sir, if you didn’t manage to turn the boy into a living vegetable, you certainly managed to render him useless to us getting anymore information out of him you dammed idiot!” Foster threw his pad on the floor cracking the screen. “We had one day to gain information from him, one day! The Overseer is going to have both our heads for this!”  
Tiedemann, on his part, shook himself from the shock and stared at the doctor annoyed. “It was clear we weren’t gaining any ground with the brat anyways. If he wasn’t cracking after hours of this he wasn’t likely to crack after hours more. We underestimated him for one, and I think there is more to this little shit than what everyone knows of him.” 

Tiedemann gestured to his men. “Take him back to the holding cells and call a medic in to asset the damage. Have a man stationed at the door and inform me when he wakes up.”

“If he wakes up.” Foster grumbled. “I won’t cover for you Tiedemann if the Overseer wants to know who’s at fault for this-”

“And I wouldn’t expect you to, Doctor.” 

Foster stepped aside as two Marines came to release the small child from the chair. When the restraints were off the officer to the right picked him up bridal style and began to head toward the exit. He didn’t get far. Before the man was able to take a single step away from the chair he found himself staring at the boy’s eyes seconds before everything went black.

0.01 Hour(s) – Body Count 1

The horrifying crunch that sounded the room caused Tiedemann and Doctor Foster to turn from their walk to the door. The scene in front of them caused them to freeze. Richard stood, back to them, hunched on weak knees over the officer’s body. Blood dripped from the child’s elbow and the man’s visor was smashed into his caved in face. 

Everyone in the room stilled, before the man to the left raised his gun with a yelp. From where Tiedemann and Foster stood they had a front row seat to the spectacle. The boy moved, fast, faster than he had any right to on stick legs that looked barely able to support him. Using the surprise Richard pushed the aimed gun upward, away from his person just as the trigger was being pulled. The resulting action caused the gun to fire at the friendly’s standing at the far wall, making the men dance as bullets were implanted into their body mass. 

As the officers fell still, the child jerked the gun to the right effectively breaking the finger still in the trigger’s slot, and spun the weapon upside-down till it was aimed at its owner. Pressing against the damaged appendage and making the gun go off. The officer wasn’t given time to think about what had just occurred before the firearm blew a hole through his head. 

By now the remaining few officers in the room, leapt into action. Richard maneuvered the slumping remains over himself to act as a shield when the men opened fire and ran toward them dragging the body with him. Stopping in front of the officers, Dick used the momentum to thrust the corpse at them, the weight of the body knocking the officers down. Kicking the guns away, the child jumped at the first man to get to his feet. Couching low then by means of the crown of his head, Richard broke the offending challengers’ nose. The blow was a direct hit, causing the shattered bone to be lodged into the frontal lode of his brain. 

The boy latched onto the body pulling a blade from the corpse belt and throwing it at the last man, lodging the cutting edge into his neck. As the officer’s hand went up toward the invading object, Richard launched himself off the carcass and kicked the knife the rest of the way into the man jugular. 

Landing on the balls of his feet, Richard crouched taking in deep rasping breaths from his abused throat. Tiedemann and Foster were unmoving as they watched the carnage that unfolded in mere seconds. Foster took an involuntary step back from the room; the movement was caught by the resting child who snapped his head up and locked eyes with the doctor. 

Doctor Foster was shocked into stillness once more by the sight. Blood flowed like rivers from the youth’s nose and mouth, mixing with the splatter of red from the collecting corpses. But what stunned the man the most was the alarming amount of crimson that swam and ate away at the blue in the boy’s eyes. “By the Marker.”

Tiedemann was the last to come out of his shock, growling deep he reached for his own firearm. “YOU F#CKING PIECE OF CRAZED SHIT!” Foster noted in alarm that the child’s irises left his and latched onto Tiedemann his pupils blowing. 

“TIEDEMANN NO! STAND DOWN!” Foster grabbed the taller man’s wrist and struggled to hold it down. “GET OFF ME FOSTER!” During their fight for dominance a sound from the room made them stop. The child was gone and a vent cover hung uselessly from the ceiling, the thud of someone crawling inside echoed from the small space growing faint. 

Ripping his arm from Foster, Tiedemann began shooting at the ceiling knowing it would be ineffective. “Would you calm down, you’re lucky to be alive right now.”

“LUCKY?! Lucky, look around the room Foster! My men are dead because of that little shit! I want his scrawny neck in my hands, so I can squeeze the life out of his f#cking eyes!” Tiedemann marched out of the room calling for a lockdown of the ship. 

Foster was left alone to examine the damage done by a child that hardly came to his shoulder. He shuddered at the look in the boys eyes then smiled when he realized what it meant. The doctor quickly grabbed his damaged pad and raced after Tiedemann to ensure the teenager wasn’t killed.

0.04 Hour(s) – Body Count 6

Richard kicked the vent cover off and leapt into the darkened room. Landing in a crouch he surveyed the area, eyes glowing as they watched the shadows for movement. Content with the emptiness of the room Dick stood up and rummaged through the drawers and cabinets for supplies. He hasn’t been in this part of the ship before, but that sure didn’t stop those things from following him here. Using the first aid kit he found he cleaned the blood off his face and out of his mouth, bandaging the cut at the top of his scalp. 

As he began putting away the kit, the room turned red from the emergency lights and an alarm sounded through the area. “Shit, another quarantine.” Movement from the hall caused Richard to dive behind the counter for cover, just as the door slid opened. Dick peeked his head around to see what had invaded his space and held his breath. There the silhouette of one of them stood in the doorway, turning it head back and forth as it looked around the room. 

Then just as quickly as it arrived it left. Breathing a sigh of relief, Richard noticed just how screwed he would have been if it had come in. He didn’t have any of his weapons or his armor, his rig was missing too. “Well this sucks.” Standing up and getting a better look at the room with the red glow, Richard saw that he was standing in a small medical office. 

‘That would explain the easy access to the med kit.’ Dick thought. ‘Need a weapon.’ Glancing around the room for anything to use in his defense his eyes caught the reflection of a small blade sitting on a tray. Picking it up revealed it to be a scalpel. ‘Not my first choice but it will have to do for now. At least until I can find something else.’

Twirling the sharp blade in his hands the boy slowly moved toward the exit. Opening the door showed a brightly lit blood stained hall. ‘Well the lights seem to be working fine on this side of the ship at least.’ Wanting to avoid any conflict he moved silently and hid whenever one of those things made a pass in the halls. 

Hiding in a small closet he saw a horde pass through the halls, when he heard it. Someone singing softly, he recognized the lullaby as it echoed across the corridor. Richard didn’t set his hopes to high that it was a survivor but went to investigate. 

Following the voice to a closed room, Dick entered with caution and found a young woman sitting in the middle of what looked like an office. Her face was hidden by the reddish brown waves of her hair, a simple white sleeveless gown hung limply from her frame. The woman’s head was resting on her knees and her arms wrapped her legs as she sung and rocked back and forth. 

Stepping further into the room Richard reached for her hopping to offer any type of comfort when a necromorph stepped into the room from another door. The boy froze and the monster gave a startled screech before charging forward. The woman screamed in terror and backed herself into a corner holding her head shaking. 

Richard stepped in front of her, attempting to hold the creature’s attention and keep it away from the survivor. This necromorph didn’t appear as mutated as the other before it but Dick wasn’t about to underestimate it. Sidestepping the initial swing of its deadly appendage, the boy brought his scalpel down into the abomination’s shoulder. Digging the blade in and forcing it through the armor the thing had grown for itself. It screeched when the blade made contact between the joint where the arm met the torso. Jerking the blade as hard as he could Richard started to separate the limb while avoiding the frantic swings and attacks the thing was making.

Having finally severed the muscle and bone Richard sank low and delivered a strong kick to the kneecap sending the shrieking atrocity to the ground where it withered. Breathing hard and being freshly covered in gore the boy turned back to the crying woman.

“Hey, you’re okay.” He grimaced at how harsh his voice sounded and tasted copper on his tongue again. “It’s safe for now, its okay.” He put a hand on her head and started to pet the soft locks, that always calmed him down when he was scared. It seemed to relax her but just when she started to look up three more of those things entered the room. No doubt they heard the commotion and came to get in on the action. They hesitated at the door before one bent over and began to vomit acid. 

Richard growled. “Wonderful they have a f#cking spitter with them.” He didn’t give them a change to fully enter the room before he began to tear them apart. It wasn’t long before the whole room was decorated in red. Unfortunately one of them got to close to the cowering woman, causing her to jump up and run from the room covering her eyes from the gore. Dick didn’t waste time finishing them off, a new found fury rising at possibly losing a survivor.

0.37 Hour(s) – Body Count 10

With the last corpse stilled Richard ran off after the woman. Stepping into the stained hallway he stared in both directions trying to determine where she would have run, when he heard a frightened scream come from the left. Not waiting a moment longer he sped toward the cries for help. He found her running into a circular room and outside the door at the end.

She was sitting on her knees again rocking herself and singing in an attempt to calm down. Position by the door she ran out of were two more monstrosities guarding the entry. ‘Most likely waiting for her to come out or looking for a way in.’ The thought made Richard’s blood boil, he was not losing another person to this nightmare. 

He charged in, taking them both out as they thrashed and scream with their dying breath in an inhuman voice. Leaning against the far wall, Dick took a moment to focus his own breathing. ‘Need to find a better weapon soon, can’t keep this up.’ Pushing himself off the wall, he headed toward the door. “Hey, listen. I know you’re scared but I can take care of you,” Maybe. “But I need you to stick close to me. It’s okay.” The woman continued to sit but she had stopped singing and rock tilting her head in his direction. “That’s it, I’m not going to hurt you. I promise.”  
She still sat not moving an inch. Richard huffed in annoyance but he couldn’t blame her. “How bout I open the door and we walk out together, you want to do that?” At her nod he made his way closer and reached for the controls to the door. A sudden screeching was heard when a loud bang went off in the room and Dick pulled his hand back to his chest crying out in pain.  
He knelt down cradling his hand and stared at the little finger that now rested on the floor. He gagged when he put two and two together. Looking up he found himself surrounded, the woman was weeping again, probably sobbing for the loss of his life or in fear for hers. Not liking that line of thinking Richard went back to the situation at hand. Being surrounded suck and he would most defiantly be sporting a few new scars after this but it was manageable. Using their hesitation to his advantage Richard moved. 

0.40 Hour(s) – Body Count 12 

Tiedemann ran with Foster following close behind talking some nonsense about the importance of leaving the boy alive. As far as the commander was concerned the boy could choke on his own blood. Foster grabbed his shoulder and turned him around.

“You’re not listening to me! The child may not speak of what happened on the Ishimura but that doesn’t mean he is not still important to the progress of our Convergence.” Foster tried to bring attention to the data pad in his hand. “The readings from that last test show high signs of mental tampering; if you attended more sermons at the church you’d know that-.” 

Tiedemann growled. “Why the hell should I care if the little shit has brain damage he has killed six of my men, Foster. The church had nothing to do with this. I’m going to put a bullet right between his eyes the minute I see him.” Taking his pistol out of its holster and waving it in front of the doctor’s face. “Then we’ll see how cheeky he is then.” 

“He’ll kill you before you get the chance.” Foster said deadpanned.

Before Tiedemann could resort the commander’s rig sprung to life. “We found the boy. The kid was talking to himself then tried to shoot himself out the airlock.”

“A suicide attempt? That doesn’t sound right.”

Tiedemann ignored the doctor. “Do you have the boy contained?”

“Affirmative sir, we have him surrounded and are awaiting further- SHIT!” Rapid gunfire and screaming echoed down the corridors of the ship.  
“REPORT!” The commander all but shouted into his rig as Foster and himself sprinted down the hall toward the source of the commotion. No answer but screamed curses, pained grunts and what sounded like bones breaking filled the rig’s audio. Cursing again they rounded the corner and stopped short.

The fight had been brought out of the circular room and into the hall. Bodies lay scattered around the panting figure in the middle. Blood was splattered on the walls and ceiling, and severed limb decorated the floor. And the boy was holding a scalpel. 

Foster grabbed the gun from Tiedemann and threw it behind the both of them when the child’s gaze locked on theirs and crouched low to pounce. When the gun was out of sight the boy locked himself in place, still crouched in an attacking position but making no move to do so. Foster wasn’t sure if the kid was even breathing as he stared at them. “Don’t move.”  
Tiedemann froze but didn’t stop himself from glaring at the man beside him. “What the hell are you doing?”

“Saving your life commander. Look carefully at his eyes.” Tiedemann scoffed and looked, a confused expression crossing his features when he saw the red glow in them.

“The hell?”

“That was what I was trying to tell you before. The boy isn’t attacking because of the interrogation Hans, at least not on that alone. The machine brings out ones worst fear and shoves it to the forefront of their mind. When you turned the thing up all the way it must have caused some damage to his sanity. The boy doesn’t see us; he’s not fighting us, he’s seeing whatever it was that attacked the Ishimura and acting in self-defense. The officer said he was talking to himself, what if he wasn’t? What if he was talking to something only he could see, and didn’t realize they were standing outside the ship?” 

“What a load of bullshit.” Tiedemann whispered back, but he couldn’t well argue with it either. 

“Then why did the boy stop his advance on us when I threw the gun.” That made Tiedemann stop his rebuke. “He said so himself earlier, he doesn’t see us as a threat compared to whatever he faced before. So why show aggression now after that. Simple, because all the others had weapons pointed at him, the first man was carrying him when he was incapacitated, and he saw a threat to himself rather than officers trying to lead him to a cell. Even now he’s waiting for us to make the first move.”

“Seeing us as a threat or no, the little shit just killed most of the men I have on this ship. Your little speech isn’t going to convince me to not break his neck.” Tiedemann slowly tapped into his rig and sent a silent call for backup. 

“Then you’ll screw up our chance at rebuilding the Marker!”

“What?”

“That boy isn’t just fighting Tiedemann, he’s surviving. The boy is a survivor in every sense of the word. That’s why the Marker chose him to carry its secrets. The glow in his eyes should be proof enough. The child is surviving for both himself and the information that was stuffed into his head. We get him back to the church we can extract that knowledge and work on building another holy relic.” 

The teen in question was disturbingly still, not even blinking as they tried to figure out how to get out of this without losing their limbs. “So what you want to capture the brat?”

“If possible yes, if we can subdue him and place him in suspended animation it will be easy to get what we need.”

Tiedemann gritted his teeth. “Fine, but the second he shows signs of resisting or escaping from the church I’m ordering a shoot on sight.” 

Foster breathed a sigh of relief. “Of course, now how do we get to him?”

“Just sent an order for a long distance stun gun, should be arriving right about.” As Tiedemann finished an officer stepped around the corner at the opposite end of the hall carrying a large and intimidating weapon. “Keep your eyes on the kid so he doesn’t see my guy behind him.”

Foster did just that, focusing on the hollowed out expression and blood that covered his once white suit. Unfortunately he couldn’t keep from glancing over the boys head to see the progress of the solider behind him, and the child noticed. 

He spun on his heel just as the gun was fired, the electric field that traveled down the hall bust the lights as it passed. Before he was hit with the current, Richard threw the scalpel and struck the man in the eye before falling himself. The small body twitched on the floor but for stilling. Tiedemann ran to his downed man calling for a medic as the fallen officer screamed in agony. Foster, on the other hand, went to the child to ensure he was still alive.

Looking up to find Tiedemann glaring at him the commander reminded him of the promise. “I mean it Foster, you can’t keep that little shit under control I’ll make sure he isn’t a problem again.” Doctor Foster could only nod in agreement as he knelt in the crimson hall that was beginning to smell of decay.

0.53 Hour(s) – Injured 1  
Body Count 19

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The whole idea of this chapter came from the second animated Dead Space movie, Aftermath. Which is a bit of an origin story to how Nolan Stross came to be on Titan. I wasn't very impressed with the CGI but the story was good and I loved the different animations that came from the different characters point of view.  
> I recommend watching it for some back story in between the first and second game, if your interested.
> 
> Also if you guessed that the crying woman was an hallucination of Richards mother then you're right. Free cookies and a hug from poor baby Robin for you.


	5. Condemed

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bruce is struggling with problem after problem with the preparation of the rescue mission. With little to nothing on the Unitology religion and rebelling teens The Dark Knight just might hit something. Meanwhile on Titan his little bird is struggling with the new knowledge of being a murderer. This is not a good day for the father and son duo.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's the next chapter for you guys. Sorry for the wait.
> 
> Trigger Warnings: Depression, vomiting, harmful thoughts and actions, bit of blood and gore.

Chapter 5: Condemned

Watchtower

Briefing Room

2100 Hours

Bruce read and re-read the files that the Bat computer sent him regarding the cult Richard brought up in his last report. Unitology, a religion that was only recently founded in this decade. The core idea and belief being that the human race was created by a higher form of alien intelligence and divinity and through death will be reunified with said creatures in heaven. 

The dark haired man couldn’t stop himself from scoffing at the idea and tried to picture Clark or John being a higher alien race and creating humans through whatever means. He would have laughed if the circumstance of why he needed to do this research wasn’t evident. And the more he read, the more concerned he became.

The Church of Unitology was held on the promise of “transformation and rebirth”. While it sounded nice in theory, if the thing that came in behind Richard during his recording was the `transformation’ they were describing…. 

The whole scripture was unscientific and was supported solely on unwavering faith in its follower’s worship of the Marker. Unsurprisingly the Marker bared a strong resemblance to the Artifact his boy spoke of. It was bigger than he thought it would be.

What made the Dark Knight more apprehensive was the claimed religion origin, which involved a secret research project. Despite his best efforts, the detective was unable to find any more information on that specific subject. He only found the creator’s name, Michael Altman. The man was made out to be a prophet, and was killed, praised as a martyr, not long after the religion was founded. 

After continuing his analysis Bruce discovered the reason for the creed’s small existence on Earth. The religion was astronomical in its popularity among the colonies in deeper space. With the finding of alien artifacts and life outside of Earth, more and more become convinced of the Church’s teachings every day. While many on Earth know of aliens, no one is about to see Superman or Martian Manhunter as a creator of life and being. Thus why he never heard of it before today. 

It all sounded like a cheap way to prey on people for wanting something to believe in. Being some of the first to start colonizing other planets, of course people would be looking for something to keep them close to home. Religion had that sort of grounding element. The amount of money and support the church was receiving was ridiculous, and is sure to turn a few heads.

The church itself is quickly expanding. There are temples already on a majority of the colonizes, but now they are becoming more involved in schooling, businesses, and the media. It won’t be long before they start to integrate themselves into government roles as well, if they aren’t already there. 

He let down his cowl and rubbed at his eyes. Despite finding all of this on Unitology, there was nothing on what could have possibly happened on the Ishimura, or why. The boy’s reports only came in partly, the rest of the data being corrupted. 

Was this the doing of the ones who sent the false reports from before?

Richard blamed the markings on the Artifact, and the written notes he sent with the visual report that held all the info he was able to dig up seemed to support this theory. But translating the symbols thus far has proved fruitless. Martian Manhunter, Zartana, and Doctor Fate were all at a loss on what they could mean as well. 

The Bat could feel a stress headache building around his eyes. He wanted to hit something. He wanted to curse and yell and scream. He wanted to find his son. He made a mistake. And now his partner, his soldier, his boy was paying for it.

It was supposed to be a simple long-term mission, he was ready for it. The cover was perfect. 

Mister Wayne is a busy man, with charities to go to, investments to make deals on and a company to run. He didn’t have time to take a six month vacation to see if his latest involvement and donation to the Planet Cracker Corporation and EarthGov. was making good on their agreement. 

Batman didn’t have time. 

But Richard did. 

The boy already having skipped two grades and about to skip another was more than entitled to a six month vacation, so long as he stayed on top of his studies. With Richard Flag, a trusted employee and hard working financial advisor to take care of the company work and watch over the hyperactive teen. Though both vigilantes knew, Richard would be the one watching over everything and everyone. Being one of the best hackers and undercover detectives underneath the Dark Knight himself, Dick was more than ready for this mission.

It was suppose to be a simple mission. Infiltrate the USG Ishimura as a guest; gather intelligence on the reason for the unscheduled and illegal trip to Aegis VII, and use the information gathered to bring the corporation’s corruption into light. Simple. Until it wasn’t.

A cult hiding under the guise of a peaceful religion, an ancient artifact being discovered and holding a dark power, a mass of suicides and murders, someone discovering Richard’s true intentions and reasons for being on the ship. 

All of these could never have been accounted for, variables that could never have been prepared for. 

Wasn’t that his job though? To be paranoid, and cautious. For him to be prepare for every possible outcome? To keep the boy safe like he promised his parents and to himself?

Richard Flag was one of the casualties listed in the boy’s notes, his profile picture standing out amongst the thousands of others on the screen.

How long had he been alone? Surviving all by himself. Forced to do thing he shouldn’t have to do. Despite his mature attitude on missions and sharp observation and skill, Richard was still a child. One who had already witnessed to much cruelty in this life that is fair to him. And now he was alone fighting for his life against an onslaught of creatures not even found in nightmares. Was he even still fighting at all?

Bruce grabbed at his hair. If he had noticed sooner that the written reports were fakes, would his son even be in this mess? Would he be struggling every second to breath one more time? Being harmed not just physically, but emotionally and mentally as well?

Bruce wanted nothing more than to charge forward and retrieve his boy and bring him home safe. Tear apart the monsters and men that seek to get in his way. But going in without information, without a plan was likely to cause more damage than was already done. So he sat and researched and planned and used every second he could spare to achieving his goal.  
The door at the end of the room opened to reveal the Amazonian woman on the other side with a large, muscular Kryptonian behind her, both with concern written their face. Bruce only wearily gazed at them before turning back to the data pad he was reading, again. Without a word the two other founders of the League crossed the room and met behind the seated man’s chair.

“Anything?” Diana leaned forward and began reading over his shoulder.

The Bat only glanced at her, “No. Nothing new from the last time you asked me.” Irritation laced into his voice. 

“Relax Bruce. She was only trying to help.” Bruce was quick to glare at the bigger man when he addressed him. But the alien didn’t back down, returning the glare. “We’re not the enemy here, Bruce. We want to see Richard returned safely just as badly as you do.”

Shoulders slumped in defeat, he only hummed in response. The closest thing to an apology they were likely to receive from him. The two remained quiet and silence fell upon the room once more. The detective quietly continuing his reading while the supers behind him stood guard over the distressed father. After what seems like hours Bruce put the data pad down and rubbed hard at his eyes.

“There’s nothing new. Everything I pull up on the damned religion all say the same bullshit.” His voice was gruff and impatient.

“What about the ship?” Diana wasn’t about to let anything go untouched.

“Nothing. No report on what happened to it or the crew. The only reason we know anything happened at all was because of Richard’s transmission. I sent a message to Earthgov asking for an update on the ships status a few hours ago. What they send in reply will determine if they’ve been keeping information secret, or not. Then we will act on this knowledge.” 

“Sounds good, but we have another issue we need to address.” Bruce turned to Clark as he spoke, and waited for him to continue. “The teenagers have all gotten it into their heads that they’re coming on this rescue mission.”

“Absolutely not.” The only thing the Dark Knight had to say on the subject.

“Agreed, but they insist and won’t give it a rest. It’s taking up all our time just keeping them out of this room and not bothering you about it.”

“They’ll get the same answer.”

“I say we should let them come.” An audible crack sounded in the room when both Bruce and Clark snapped their necks toward the woman standing with her hands on her hips.

“Are you insane?”

“We can’t allow them to be subjected to whatever horrors Dick currently has to face.” 

“We will already have one traumatized child who will need attention, Diana, we don’t need six more.”

Batman and Superman talked over each other, trying to dissuade the warrior from her line of thinking before she voices her opinion with the children in the other room. Her consent will only further drive them into thinking they could go. 

“Those are hardly good reasons to not allow them to accompany us.” She scolded them.

“Those are perfectly good reasons. I can think of a million more better reasons, if I had the time and patience, to spare them this ordeal.” The Detective stood to his full height in his rant.  
“They have already seen a glimpse of what they will be facing in the transmission same as everyone else.” Diana stood her ground against him. 

“All the more reason to keep them here and out of harm’s way. We don’t know the full extent of the danger we ourselves could be walking into.” Clark said, staying back in case the two started throwing punches. 

“There are countless numbers of variables to the situation that we need to take into, allowing them to go will double if not triple that count. We are going in half blind with information that could be weeks to months old.” The Dark Knight’s eyes narrowed pounding Diana’s idea into the ground with logic. 

“Then having backup and extra eyes and skills could greatly increase our chances of finding Richard and any other survivors alive. Maybe even going further to finding out more on this mysterious Artifact he spoke of.” 

“Thousands are already dead,” Bruce gestured to the data pad, “you really want to expose them to the massacre that took place there. If the inside of the carrier ship was that bad with no bodies in it, how much worse do you think the Ishimura will be? Or the colony should we have to investigate that?” 

“They are not children, Bruce. They are warriors who fight for the well-being of those around them, and one of their own has been endangered. Not just any of them either, but the youngest and smallest of them. It goes against their very nature as heroes to stand by while their comrade could be hurt or suffering.”She crossed her arms and glared at the men daring to question her. “Plus who is to stop them from following as soon as we leave? The others have responsibly of their own as well as taking ours once we have left. No one can stay for so long and make sure they have stayed planet side. They are smart; they’ll find a way to come even if they are watched. It’s safer for them if they are brought along.”

Clark closed his mouth at her explanation, unable to come up with any counter excuse. Bruce however wasn’t so easily swayed. “Then we’ll lock them up until we’ve returned, but they will NOT be accompanying us.”

“You cannot lock them away, until it is convenient for you.”

“Watch me.” The detective turned back to the data pad, forcing himself to find a bit more information before they had to leave.

Diana clenched her fists in frustration. While she could see where he was coming from it didn’t make it right to exclude the younger members. Sighing she looked at the man sitting beside her, tensed and ready to rip worlds apart should he have to. Shaking her head at what she was about to do, Diana strengthened her resolve. 

“He will need them.” Bruce stopped what he was doing and glared at the Amazon, knowing exactly what she was doing. “Richard is strong and brave, but he is young and scared. You saw that transmission Bruce, we all saw it.” 

She swung the chair he was sitting in and kneeled in front of him. “And I know you’re scared. He will need as much support from the people he loves as he can get. And his team is willing and wanting to fight to give him that. You cannot deny him that. Them that. She grabbed his chin gently and made him look her in the eye, “Let them fight.”

Bruce didn’t say a word, but the look in his eyes showed hesitant defeat. Satisfied she stood up and left to deliver the news to the waiting teens. Clark watched her go and Bruce rubbed his temples again. 

“She certainly has a way with words.” The super muttered.

“Don’t remind me.” The other growled.

The taller man turned to his best friend and settled a hand on his shoulder. “Hey, don’t worry. Richard is as tough as they come and sharper than a blade. He’s fine, probably waiting for us to come and pick him up right now.” His reassurances fell flat.

But Bruce only nodded. “You heard what he said. He fully expects to die out there alone, maybe he already has. If so, I…I at least want to bring him home and bury him with his parents. He deserves that and more from me.” 

Clark squeezed his shoulder. “Don’t talk like that. He’s your protégé. He’s fine.”

Bruce looked him in the eye with all the weariness of a broken father. “Can you promise me that?”

Clark didn’t respond but didn’t break eye contact either. In the end Bruce could only nod again. “Okay, He’s fine.”

An incoming call popped up on the data pad showing the EarthGov. insignia on the screen. 

“He’s Fine.”

 

~

 

Richard was not fine. Is in no way shape or form the definition of fine. 

He sat in the dark, cramped space of an air vent not far from the hospital entrance. Not the smartest of moves, considering those things use the ducts to move about the station. He couldn’t bring himself to care.

His stomach flips and tightens with every breath he takes. Holding his head on his knees and crossed arms the little bird struggled not to dry heave again. He was taking deep breaths doing what he could to manage his ever growing panic. 

It’s been forty-five minutes since Dania checked up on him. Not surprising, he disconnected the communications on his rig. He wasn’t dead yet, she would know that from the vital signs his rig was sending her. He wasn’t in a mood to talk.

Nineteen. Nineteen people were dead because of him, one critically injured. He didn’t remember it, but the evidence all pointed to it being true. Unless he found another story that explained everything that was going on. Guilty until proven innocent. 

Dick leaned to the side and started gagging, a bit of stomach acid coming from his abused throat.

He laid there curled, head setting just under the small puddle of sick. He trembled and tears blurred his vision. He didn’t bother to wipe them away. His heart hurt. More than it has in a long time.

He was no better from them now. Scarecrow, Ivy, Riddler, Two-Face, Joker. God, he was on Joker’s level. No longer the hero who fought to keep people safe. Who brought hope and light to The Dark Knight’s gloom and justice. He was a criminal, and not just a criminal. He was the worst kind of criminal. 

A murder.

Dick couldn’t stop the sob that escaped his mouth. 

It echoed through the vent. 

He found another reason to avoid looking at his hands now. They were stained in blood that he spelt. It wasn’t noticeable before, under all the filth hiding beneath the surface of his skin. Now that’s all he saw. The blood that was there, but not there. He stopped tearing at his hands when he could no longer bend his fingers. The pain has started to dim into numbness. 

His hope of ever seeing home again was shattered. Bruce would take one look at him and see him for what he was. Guilty. He would look at him with a stoic expression, but with betrayal, hurt, sadness and finally hatred in his cobalt eyes. The very moment they saw one another again, Richard will have lost another father. 

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry. Don’t hate me, please god, don’t hate me. I’m sorry dad.” Dick whimpered to the image he conjured in his head and cried only harder when it turned and walked away without a word.

Facing everyone else would be just as bad. Superman and Wonder Woman, Canary and Arrow, Green Lantern, Aquaman, Martian Manhunter, the Team. They would all look and know. Richard wept bitterly for the loss of his adopted family. 

It was like losing the circus all over again, only worse because he did this to himself. It’s his own fault.

The option to go back home again was taken from him. As soon as he set foot on Earth he was bound for Arkham. And he didn’t even know why. What would cause him to snap like that, why would he kill those men? Attack those soldiers who were only doing their jobs. 

The Artifact.

Richard found new tears when he realized the implications of this information. He was sick. Just like the people on the Ishimura and in the colony. He was sick in the head and crazy just like all of them became before. Seeing his dead mother aboard the ship should have been his first clue.

And even though he survived the nightmare the first time, how little he thought he would. 

He was already dead from the very beginning.

So the boy huddled into himself and cried. He cried for the people killed. He cried for the innocent people who would be killed. He cried for his hurt and pain and exhaustion and loneliness and sickness. He cried for his death. But more than that he cried for his loss.

It took another hour for the small bird to calm himself down, until he lay numb and emptier than he ever felt. At least before, on the Ishimura, he had a hope to die a hero. As someone who could say he died doing the right thing. Now he had nothing.

His cries dwindling down into sniffles and small hiccups and eventually became silent. Without the sound of his own sorrows and heartbeat in his ears, Richard suddenly became hyperaware of a siren softly echoing in the vents.

Rubbing his face, Richard willed himself to move. 

As far as his problems go, they don’t take priority right now. 

Dick felt slightly ashamed of himself. ‘There are people who need help and I’m sitting here in self-pity.’ 

“I might not be a hero anymore but that doesn’t have to stop me from doing the right thing.” The child spoke aloud giving himself new purpose. “If I can stop the Marker, at least one more time. Alright I have a mission, time to finish it. First things first.”

Accessing his rig, Dick reconnected the communications line. The very second it became active Dania’s image appeared in front of him, clearly upset by his silence the past two hours. Before she could begin scolding him Richard spoke. “You said you would be able to cure me of this sickness right? At least temporarily.”

The woman blinked, alarmed at the boy’s sudden commanding tone. “Yes, if you reach us in time that is. However you have already wasted two hours doing…” She stopped herself when she took in his raw eyes and the tear tracks that made their way down his face. 

“I know. I’m making my way to you now. I have another favor to ask of you though.”

Richard reached a maintenance door and opened it before jumping to the floor. He landed in what looked to be a warehouse store. The windows to the front being closed for business. 

“What kind of favor, Mister Grayson?”

“You seem to be pretty knowledgeable about me and the events that have taken place that have lead up to now. Despite not being involved with EarthGov.” Dick switched the screen to audible while he dug through drawers and cabinets for supplies. His hands and fingers burned with each movement. He’ll have to find a med kit soon.

“It’s good to keep informed. I make it my business to do so.” The blond said somewhat suspicious of the boy’s point in conversation. 

“Good. I need you to find out where this new Marker is being held on the station. Then give me the quickest route to it.”

There was no replay to his request which made the little bird stop in his rummaging. “Dania?”

“I’m here, I heard you.” She hesitated. “That is highly classified information. The only reason I was able to find out so much about you was through a reliable source I had in EarthGov. And he’s dead.”

Richard was quiet at the new information set in front of him.

“But I will do my best to try and find its location. For now focus on getting to me.”

“Will do.” Dick nodded his thanks and went about hacking the front door.

“I’ll check on you later, be careful.” The line went dead and the boy was left with only the sound of a distant alarm. 

In no time the door was opened and Richard stepped out into a residential shopping center. Bringing his guns up he moved through the open area. Stores were on his left while a large window giving a whole view of Titan station was on his right. He whistled in amazement.

“Man, Wally is gonna be soooo jealous…”Dick continued to stare out taking in every detail. The city was large and the planet sitting next to them was even bigger. The sight was beautiful. When from nowhere a small carrier flew past the window on fire and crashed into the building. His sudden good mood damped when his current situation hit him like a fist. “oh, F@#k.”

Backing away he hurried down the hall. A shop with t.v.’s setting in the window show cased a warning to civilians to stay inside and hide until the circumstances could be dealt with. Dick only stopped momentarily to memorize the face of the leader of EarthGov. 

Tiedemann. 

The bald, dark skinned man was intimidating and his voice held authority hard to come by. With his seemingly great concern he has for the people on this station, Dick could understand why he wanted him dead after what he did. 

When he reached the door to the residential area there was a wanted post above it show casing his face and information as well as that of the man in the video he saw earlier, Nolan Stross. “So Stross is still alive. And on the station.” He winced when he read the charges against himself.

He shook his head. “Now is not the time Dick. Finish the mission first then grovel in self-pity.”

Checking to ensure his guns were loaded, thank god he grabbed the downs soldiers’ ammo before he left, he opened the magnetic doors.

The change in atmosphere was immediate. The pressure from the room declined, making the boy’s ears pop and breathing shorten. Paper flew toward the new open door and loose wires swung with little care in the world. The scent of blood filled his nose, but that wasn’t the worst of it.

The peaceful silence was suddenly over taken with the shrieks and cries of hundreds of dying individuals and the things that were slaughtering them.

Richard was sick again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sad little bird is sad. There isn't much going in on in this chapter but it does provide a bit more information on how and why Richard got into this mess. Which is important. Okay the next chapter will have a lot more action in it so stay tuned.  
> love you all, peace out!


	6. Casualty

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It was easier on the Ishimura. So much easier compared to this. At least while everything went to hell, Richard had company with him, at least for a little while. Someone to help keep him distracted while death and destruction at the hands of these things. Everyone is dying around him and he can't do a thing to stop it. So he did the only thing he could.
> 
> Run and Shoot

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter got me bad in the game. Yeah when your on the Ishimura in the first game you found survivors but you weren't there to witness the complete and utter chaos that they brought. I wanted so badly to help all of the people but the game wouldn't let me. So this chapter can get a bit rough. Characters and settings are not mine.
> 
> Sorry about the wait.
> 
> Trigger warnings:  
> Cursing, gore, body horror, gun violence, crying, lonely children

Chapter 6: Casualty 

Sprawl, Titan

Apartment 

1800 Hours

 

The creature screamed when its head split down the middle as Richard ran past; each monstrosity falling in response to the pull of his trigger. Unlike his experience on the Ishimura, Dick executed all enemies with practiced precision and no hesitation. The adrenalin in his system and the screams that echoed off the apartment hallways kept the boy’s feet pounding on the floor. 

Going against everything his training taught him, Dick tuned out the screeching cries for help that sometimes cut off short, doing the only thing he could think to do, run and shoot. Richard evaded his gaze from the bodies on the ground and the blood and nail marks on the walls, focused only on the next incoming threat that came his way; survival and instinct far overruling moral and remorse. 

Out of the corner of his eye he could see others, running or limping or crawling away from the horrors that threaten to rip them apart. Some however sat next to corpses, holding carcasses in mute shock as tears ran down their face. Richard turned away and paid them no mind.

‘You can’t save them. You can’t save anyone. Don’t look, just run. Don’t look, just run, just run, just run.’

Upon reaching the end of the hall, Dick quickly fled into an elevator. With the doors shut, the bird allowed himself a moment to breath, sucking in the stale recycled air. “God, I miss outside.” He exhaled. Rolling his shoulders, Dick steeled himself again.

Checking his path and ensuring he was going the right direction, Richard pushed the floor he was meant to take and jolted as the elevator moved. Reloading his weapons and observing the confined space showed advertising for the apartment that wouldn’t seem so bad to live in once you got past the fact you were trapped inside a giant building in space. Richard has long sense stopped wondering how people could willing leave home to live in an air bubble. To each his own.

The sudden plummet into obscurity snapped him out of his thoughts. The elevator ceased its movement and Richard felt ill when he reflected how peaceful this darkness was, with only a distant resonance of screams filling the space. Before he could berate himself a loud banging was heard on the other side of the door. 

“Help, oh god, please! Open the door!” A man’s voice penetrated the almost silence. Moving quickly Richard tried to force the elevator doors apart to let the man in. When they finally opened, the elevator itself was above the man’s chest. Relief and fear held his older expression, but it didn’t last long. Before he could climb aboard, hand seconds from taking Richard’s, he let out a screech as something attacked him from behind. 

Long white bone pierced him from behind and dragging him away from the open doors. Dick reached out but stopped himself short, and watched instead. The doors closed and the elevator began its journey once more. The boy stared at the bloodied hand prints that now ruined the floor, struggling to defend his actions.

‘He was dead. Even if I had been able to pull him up he would have just bleed out. That way was quicker.’

He pointedly looked away from the floor and watched the numbers rise, swallowing the guilt of what he just did. That was another life of his shoulders, and there was no way to justify that. Every bit of training he did under Bruce, every moral choice and practice, has no meaning here. The same rules he had learned growing up didn’t apply now. It was them or you. And Richard’s terror kept it from being him. 

‘One more job, just one more job. If I die then more people will too. Just have to finish this last mission. Then…Then I’ll pay for my crimes.’

The elevator slowed to a halt and the little bird brought up his guns ready to shoot first and run. The shaking in his hands ceased as he mentally numbed himself for what was outside the small space. When the doors finally opened Richard took calm, careful steps into the hall. Screams and alarms sang like a symphony through the air.

A balcony was placed right next to the elevator doors, giving a good view to the destruction on the floors below. Fire started in several of the rooms, lighting up the space in its warming glow. The boy could see people running and screaming on the other balconies. And directly across from him was a familiar man waving his arms to gain his attention.

“Richard, Little Bird, over here!” Dick’s rig opened with a holo-feed coming in from the man on the other terrace. His face was narrow with short cropped hair and a free straight jacket and wrapped arm. He look about as well as Richard felt.

“Nolan Stross.” The man wasn’t even surprised at being called by name. He smiled a nervous smile, his eyes wide and gave the impression of being somewhat insane. “What do you want?” There was no malice in Dick’s voice, only mild curiosity.

“It’s the drugs, Little Bird. You can feel it can’t you? Something b-blocking your m-memories.” The boy stiffened, and stared alarmed at the male. “They gave us drugs to forget, forget what happened, forget what they did, what we did. B-but it’s all starting to come back now.”

“What Drugs? Who did?” Richard whisper uncertainly. “Who gave us drugs, Nolan? Why did they want us to forget?” The bird said more urgently. The crazy doctor’s words from the hospital came back into his mind. ‘We’re all going to burn for what we did to you.’ “Nolan, why did they make us forget? What did we forget? What did they do?” 

Richard’s hands gripped his guns so hard he half worried he would break the handles or his own fingers. As far as he knew the doctors were never going to let them leave, so why the drugs? Were they experimenting on them? He already had dementia and by the sound of it so did Stross. They were forced into Stasis. What harm could they have really done at that point?  
‘You murdered nineteen of Tiedemann’s men in less than an hour, using nothing but a scalpel.’ Daina’s voice went through his head. He swallowed. 

“Little Bird! Look out!” The video was cut off as a hunter crawled into the platform, its back tail swinging to get a hit on the boy. Rolling out of the way of the deadly protrusion of bone, Richard activated the stasis mod with in his suit. Furious at the interruption, the boy slowed the offending attacker down and proceeded to crush the weak sections of its limbs with his boot.   
Blood and gore sprayed the bottom half of his suit. He paid little mind to it, taking out his frustration on the creature until it lie still. Breathing heavily, Richard spit on the carcass in front of him. Catching his breath, Dick looked up to find the other patient gone from sight. 

“Nolan?” He tried calling on the holo-feed but the line remained disconnected. Richard couldn’t explain why but the older man’s absence upset him greatly. As messed up as it was he felt connected to Stross, a man who clearly is suffering the same as himself. Without realizing it, Richard brought upon himself an additional mission. 

Find Stross and get him out alive.

Easier said than done, the boy turned and began again down the dark hallway the flashlight on his guns guiding his way. The doors that lined the walls had video screens attached to them, giving a view of the room inside for some of them. 

As Dick passed the rooms he could hear various states of panic coming from the inside of many of them. A man begging for mercy, a woman screaming in outright distress; he didn’t look at what the cameras were showing inside the apartments. Richard moved forward.

Going through a door that led into another hallway, the boy came across two survivors struggling against each other; a woman attempting to run into a room crying for her mother and a man holding her back yelling at her to run. Actually seeing survivors up close as compared to hearing them spurred Richard into moving toward them.

They were right there, Dick could feel himself getting a bit giddy at being in close proximity to another human being. With no visible threat in sight it looked like Richard could have a bit of company, even if it was only for a short time.

As he got closer however a necro broke through a door directly beside him causing the child to stumble back. It charged before he could regain his balance knocking into him like a freight train, stealing away the air from his lungs. Both of them landed on the ground hard. Richard gasped for oxygen and scrambled backwards on the floor as the monster attempted to gut him. Tears filled his vision as he forced metallic air back into his abused lungs, and used his legs to kick the thing back as it got closer. 

Finally having regained his senses, Robin rolled in-between its legs and lashed out at the back of its knees. When it collapsed the teen stood up, put his hands together and brought them down on its cranium, crushing it in. He didn’t hesitate to grab its arms, place his foot on its back and pull until the rotted skin and muscle separated.

Panting in excursion and watching to make sure the thing didn’t move again, Richard strained his ears for the survivors. When nothing but distant screams reached his ears the ebony turned around to find the hall empty and devoid of human life. Dick felt almost hurt that they didn’t even spare him a second glance; then again he had been doing the same thing not minutes ago. 

He was careless. Became so excited at the thought of physical contact with another person that wasn’t over a holo-feed or crazed or bleeding, he let his guard down.   
‘Isolation can do that to a person.’ The little bird mused. 

He moved forward into the hall and saw an open door. The same one the woman was attempting to return to. Ready for anything, Richard moved into the room, scanning the blood stained wall and bed. There looked to be a body lying on the bathroom floor. He left without prompting, there was nothing here.

Making his way toward the end of the corridor, there was a door with laundry printed over it. Stepping inside Dick was met with a disturbing sound that stopped him from taking another step into the room. It was banging and a wailing that sent shivers up his spine. Looking into a side room that was separated by glass stood a line of driers and washers. One of them was rocking back and forth like something was in it, moans and howls emanating from the metal. 

Walking with his back toward the wall, never taking his eyes off the machine and shaking like a leaf in a storm, Richard left the room without investigating the source of the awful noise.  
He came full circle arriving on the other side of the balcony he was on. A large window showed multiple ships flying in sporadic fashion attempting to get away from the station. Richard watched in dulled fascination.

‘More people seem to be getting out alive compare to the Ishimura. Good, less blood on my hands then, just maybe I won’t drown in it.’ Dick couldn’t help the self disgusted thoughts that passed through his head. The boy could feel the weight of the whole thing on his thin shoulders. 

“NOLAN?” Richard called out, hoping and praying the older man would be nearby and safe from the abominations. When no answer greeted him, not even the sound of screaming was present any longer, the boy moved on. He kept a sharp eye out for the patient.

Another door, leading into another hallway, “God, it’s like a f#cking maze in here. Just when I think I’m out there’s another hall.” While waking in, flashlight illuminating the darkened corridor, Dick tripped over something in the shadows and braced himself against a door. Difference with this door was it talked when he made contact. 

“Don’t come any closer! You’re not coming in! I’m not opening this door for anyone.” Richard stared at the door baffled there was someone still in this area. Another survivor, so close, just on the other side of the door was another living breathing person.

“Hello-“

“I’m armed. I don’t give a shit what type of security clearance you have or what your orders are. I will kill you if you try to get in! I mean it! Just stay the hell away from my door.” The individual on the other side sounded hysterical, the boy didn’t doubt the man would harm him if he tried anything. 

Richard scoffed to hide his hurt and left the man to his fate. “Whatever, good luck with that pal.” Any other day this dismissive attitude would have alarmed him, but right now he was tired, hurt, hungry, lonely and too scared out of his mind to care. 

His path led him to another elevator. With the doors shut and the car moving, Dick called Dania. He needed to talk to someone. “Richard what is it? Is something wrong?”

“No nothing really, aside from the necromorphs everywhere, things are pretty astrous.” The teen to make his words come off light hearted, but it sounded bitter in his ears. He leaned against the wall and crossed his arms as a form of comfort. “How are you? You okay where you’re at?”

“I don’t know what you’re doing but I don’t have time for it. I’m a little busy at the moment to converse in idle small talk. Was there something you needed?” 

The young vigilante hunched his shoulders at her impatient tone. Yes, he needed someone to treat him like a human being rather than a target, mission, experiment or a savior of some kind. He needed company from a friendly face. He wanted someone to just talk to him. “No. I-I just wanted to check in, see how things were on your end.” 

“There fine and will be even better once you get here, so I think you should just focus on that for now. Call me when you need something.”

Dick panicked. ‘Not yet, just talk to me a little longer.’ “Wait, I had a few questions about the situation.”

Dania sighed. “Very well, what did you need to know?”

Richard felt guilty for bothering with his need for human interaction, but quickly shook his head and thought of something to say. “How long has this been going on? The outbreak I mean, when did it start? I haven’t been awake for five hours and the place already looks like the Ishimura did.” The teen’s voice was steel to keep the shaking out of it. It was a stupid question, the Ishimura fell within hours. But this was an entire station.

“The outbreak began at around four this morning, well at the earliest that I know of. As soon as I found out I sent a team to go and retrieve you. That was six hours ago. I knew the only one who would have any idea on how to stop this would be you. Unfortunately they didn’t make it in time to save themselves.”

“One of them was your informant.” It wasn’t a question that he spoke.

She didn’t respond for a while. “Yes.”

“I’m sorry.” Richard stared at another advertisement.

“Don’t be. They know what the risks were and how important you are. For now I just need you to get to me. You’ll need to take the tram, then ride until you reach Cassini Towers Tram Station.” Her voice took a softer tone, seemingly understanding his reasons for the pointless call and questions. “I’ll meet you half way from there.”

“Okay. Wait.” He stopped her from cutting the link again as a thought came to him. “There’s another patient. Nolan Stross, do you think you can find him for me. I think he knows something that could help.”

“That isn’t a good idea Richard. Stross is a very dangerous man who was sickened by the Marker. He’s delusional.” Dania attempted to dissuade the boy from taking interest in the man.

“That’s not stopping you from helping me.” Dick was quick to challenge, but his shoulders sagged at the thought of losing someone else. “Please, I know I’ve been asking a lot but I need to know if he’s okay. He’s like me, he’s sick and scared and I need to help him. Just keep me informed on his health, t-that he’s not dead.”

The comm. was silent and Dick feared she hung up. “Fine, I’ll look for a way to access his rig. When I find him I’ll let you kn-.”

“Dania?” The call dropped into static, and the little bird was left alone again. The silence was deafening. To keep his mind off it he reflected on the new information. 

Four hours, it took four hours to infect the Sprawl. If the Marker somehow made its way to earth it would destroy continents in days. Images of Gotham, Metropolis, Star City all deserted wastelands filled with mutated monstrosities left the child shaking again. 

“Would the Justice League even stand a chance against something like this?” 

The door opening startled the troubled boy out of his thoughts. The hallway was quiet, not a body or person in sight. “Nolan? Mr. Stross?” He called again struggling to see in the dark.  
A small noise coming from a closed room alerted the teen to some form of life. Carefully putting his ear to the door the quiet sound started to grow louder until it was recognizable as the most dismaying resonance Richard had heard. 

It was an infant. 

Dick didn’t need to keep his ear at the door to hear it now, its cries for attention echoing through the wood. Hitting the wall at the other end Richard slid down to his butt and covered his ears trying desperately to block out the wails. 

“No no no no no no no no. Oh f#ck no, why.” Rocking himself slowly back and forth, a sob blocking his lungs. The memory of killing the mutated babies made a full appearance, the sack growths on their backs housing deadly tentacles and milky dead eyes and sharp teeth. He grew numb after the first few times putting them down, but to hear a little one cry, unknowing why it was abandoned, the fate it was sure to meet. Richard didn’t even know there was hope left to break. 

He had to leave; he couldn’t take the child with him. It was dead no matter what he did. He was selfish and a coward who would rather run off now for the babe to die alone, than chance himself at becoming attached only to watch it die and turn in front of him later. Bruce would be so ashamed to call him his partner.

Richard couldn’t stand, legs to weak from the burden that took hold of his heart. Broken and beaten down so brutally from the cruelty and wrongness of the situation. So he crawled, on hands and knees putting as much distance to the room and himself as possible, sobbing and hating himself for doing so. 

He didn’t make it far before he reach a grated gate cutting him off from the other room. A woman on the other side cried in pain as she dragged herself across the room, leaving a bloody trail from her stomach behind her. She made eye contact with him before lying down and going still.

Richard didn’t make a sound, tears flow freely down his face. There was an absence of noise, no child crying, no screaming survivor, no wailing necromorphs. Just a quiet hall, with only the hum of the little birds breaths and soft hiccups.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had to stop the game for a while when I heard the baby crying. With out a doubt in my mind that was the most heart breaking and disturbing thing I have heard in a video game. 
> 
> Pray for baby bird, there is no hope.


	7. Train Wreck

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Robin is out of the apartments and is even closer to meeting up with Daina, but in order to make it to her he has to take the tram. Unfortunately there seems to be a delay in progress.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow two chapters in the same month again. What is this nonsense. 
> 
> Trigger Warnings!

Chapter 7: Train Wreck 

Sprawl, Titan 

Outside Cassini Towers Tram Station

18:57 Hours

 

Wasn’t long till the ebony finally reached the entrance to the tram station, was barley a two minute walk from where he was before. Would have reached his destination fifteen minutes faster if he hadn’t of had another breakdown. Richard berated himself at his weakness to the situation; hardly the first time he’s been through this nightmare. But regardless, there always seems to be something around every corner that throws him off. And the isolation and loneliness of the circumstances have left him emotionally and mentally crippled. 

‘I am going to need some serious therapy if I get out of this. That will be fun.’ 

Regardless of how similar the situation may be towards that of the Ishimura, Dick constantly needed to remind himself that this is a Colony and not a ship. These are men and women that were looking for a safe place to settle outside of Earth, not explorers who knew the risks of traveling the unknown. Comparing the two would be like comparing a military base with a suburb. Different place, different people, different occurrences, same results. 

The teen shook his head, “No; this is not going to be another Ishimura. I’ll take out the Marker and save as many as I can. I know what the source is this time; I’m more experienced and prepare for this. I can do this.” Richard reduced his voice to a mumble, “Can’t afford to waste any more time than I already have.”

The young vigilante walked through the darkened lobby, with the only light source coming from the digitized sign for the trams that occasionally sang a tune. It flashed with colors plunging the room into darkness before lighting it up again. Robin felt the hairs on the back of his neck rise when he heard the uncontrollable yelps at the far end of the room. 

The boy mentally went thought the list of necromorphs he had dealt with in the past, filing the new info away with everything he learned in the fights. The cries were familiar, a mix between surprised and raged. Not a slicer then, and the pitch was too high for a brute or anything bigger. Another wail gave Dick the information he needed in order to act correctly. He ran opposite of the screams and placed his back toward the wall and crouched in a stationary position and waited. 

They fell from the ceiling vents gradually making their way toward him in packs. The glowing sacks of pustules that the creatures drug behind them slowing them down considerably. They weren’t fast per say, or threatening unless they got close. But they were a thing of nightmares; if not for the split craniums, then definitely their strategy of attack. Richard mentally referred to the things as Exploders, not very original he would agree, but better than Suicide Bomber or Two-Face. 

The scariest thing about the damned monsters though, was their voice. Dick couldn’t be sure about whether or not he has actually heard one speak. But they mumble to themselves and to some of the others when in groups. A disturbing fact he found while hiding in a closet months back. If that’s the case then these things at least retained a bit of their humanity. The thought brought the boy a little peace about putting them out of their misery. Richard would swear on his soul he heard one whisper ‘Neglected’ to him before blowing up.  
His ears were left ringing after the explosion so maybe that’s a stretch. 

Robin rose only one pistol, and aimed carefully, shooting at each glowing sack; the sudden blunt force causing the growth to explode. The loud noise that echoed across the room was soon replaced with the smack of parts falling from the air. The sound and sight never failed to turn the boy’s stomach a little. 

No other enemies in sight, he continued, hurrying himself along when the flashing advertisement began to hurt his eyes. Just outside the door to the transit, Dick looked up to watch the tram arrivals for the station. They all read as delayed. 

“Welp, at least there’s no worry about missing my ride.” Richard rested his hands on his hips and continued the watch the words go by before shaking his head and opening the magnetized door. There was one tram parked in the station, all he had to do was get it started again. “Piece of cake.”

The hall was a mess, but nowhere near as bad as the apartments. The lights were still functioning, and ads filled the slopping walkway with color. Bloody handprints painted the wall but no bodies were present.

“That’s not a good sign.”

Quickly, the ebony counted his ammo and reloaded his clips. “Need to make every shot count, until I can find another gun or dead officer.” He stopped what he was doing and pushed his sweaty bangs from his face. “Well that’s a F#cked up thing to say.” Checking his guide once more, he moved down the room.

Static filled the air, its volume so suddenly intense Richard was forced to cover his ears and hide his face from the flashing lights. Red tinted white noise filled his vision and his eyes leaked from the abuse. A voice broke through the chaos, soft and broken like a record. 

“Richard? Are you there my Little Bird? Mommy’s so cold.” 

Her face appeared within the malfunctioning advertising screens. Eyes black but watching. The frightened child stepped back and somewhere in all the racket her rough screaming was taking up the background. 

The small bird shook, releasing his ears as they adjusted to the blare. Shimming against the wall, Richard avoided the watchful gaze. 

“It hurts, the ground hurts. It’s coming too fast. Richard? Where are you?” 

His stomach was in knots, and he gagged. The shaking in his legs threatened to collapse him. ‘Why is she talking about that?’ 

“The room is getting dark, it hurts so much. I can’t see you baby. Where are you? Where are you my baby bird?”

Dick bit into his hand to keep from screaming. He knew what this was. This was the thing that drove so many to death, weather by murder or suicide. This was what destroyed the Ishimura and the colony and all the people with it. This was what the inflicted spoke to in rooms alone.

This was the Marker.

And it was horrible.

He was imposed upon by its influences since the damned thing was brought aboard the Ishimura, but. “God, it was never this bad before. I never heard her like this before.” The boy hugged himself as he walked through the hell created by his own mind. No, not his mind; the Marker. 

The dementia was getting worse with each passing hour, only now did the teen realize just how far gone he really was. Hearing about yourself losing control was one thing, but to experience it. Dick thought his head would explode; symbol flew in his hallucination, their markings menacing and demanding attention. 

“Richard?” The boy in question flinched at the accusing tone her ruined voice held. “Where are you?” The words were whispered, but she may as well have slapped him in the face with the blame that she said them with.

“That’s not her talking. That’s not my mother talking.” Richard spoke under his breath like a prayer. The screaming grew louder when he walked up the ramp onto the loading platform. 

And there she was sitting on the edge of the tracks, knees drawn up to her chest and her arms hugging them, or trying to at least. The second Dick reached the room her head snapped up, creating a hideous sound in her neck. Eyes and mouth glowing white, Richard blinked and suddenly he was at the edge of the platform inches away from a tram rushing past on fire.  
He didn’t move as the train speed by, to deep in shock for it to occur to him that flames practically licked his face. The white noise was gone as was the lights that flashed. When the transport passed, Richard moved his head to watch eyes wide; unable to comprehend how he got so close to the edge so quickly. The shaking stopped and the teen off handily recognized a voice telling the room that all transportation to and from Government Sectors has been cancelled as well as other delays for up to an hour. 

Not quite sure what else to do, Richard turned around and headed to the opposite end of the station where the other tram sat in wait. The boy kept his eyes down on his feet moving on autopilot. ‘If that’s how bad it is now, how much worse is it going to get? Need to get to Daina.’

Taking in his surroundings, Dick found luggage and bodies thrown all over the room. Some sat in the benches, others laid across the floor. Papers, flyers, new prints and clothing littered the ground. Richard stared for a moment before coming to a decision, listening to his gut feeling. 

The teen lifted his foot above one of the bodies on the ground, then using the magnets in his soles brought it down on the corpse’s neck. The pull of the magnetized heel to the floor caused the spinal cord to snap under the pressure, successfully severing the head. New gore painted his suit on top of the dried existing mess.

One by one Richard maneuvered around the platform and performed the same act until all the carcasses were headless. Open bodies are just as dangerous as the Necromorphs, if not more so. ‘At least they can rest in peace, or pieces, I guess. Okay Grayson that was a bad joke. Joker would be so proud.’ Dick grimaced.

As Richard moved toward the back of the tram an infector was making quick work of a corpse inside the car. The body thrashed and convulsed, changing from a human body to something else. The boy felt numb as he watched. The Slasher that was born from the smaller creature wasted no time in breaking through the sealed door and toward its first victim.  
Robin dodged the initial attack and swung his leg delivering a powerful roundhouse to the things head. Any living thing would be dead from the impact. Acting while it was stunned, the ebony brought both guns up and severed its arms at the same time. It went down without moving.

Glancing behind him Robin saw the Infector clawing at the ground looking for its next offspring. The damned thing was ugly as sin. Only coming to his chest, and made up of a broken torso and split legs. It looked pathetic roaming around, a sting ray on out of water. The bird shot it in the back and boarded the tram when it stilled. 

It was just as dark as the platform, with only a few lights flickering here and there. Toward the end of the cars Richard saw a control panel. It didn’t take him long to rewire the power and start the transportation. Metal screamed in protest at the sudden movement and wind filled the car from broken windows.

Richard watch out the gap as the train left the platform and made a call to Daina. “I made it to the station. I’m on my way to your location now.” He had to yell over the noise.

The blonde’s shoulders sagged in relief. “Good, very good Richard. This will save you a whole lot of walking and us a whole lot of time. Now once you get close to sector 7, stop the tram at the Solomon Station and get off. I’ll meet you there.”

Dick couldn’t stop the tired smile that made its way onto his face. “I look forward to meeting you in person Miss Le Guin.”

The woman’s features softened at the young expression. “As do I, be careful.” The call ended.

‘This will be over soon. With Daina helping me, we’ll find the Marker, save the station and maybe help Mister Nolan. Then I’ll send another message to the League and turn myself into Tiedemann. We can do this. It’s almost over.’ 

The teen watched the tunnel open into a glass tube that gave the passengers on the tram a breath taking view of the city. The current of air coming in through the broken windows on the tram was deafening, and stung his eyes. But still, it’s not every day you get to see the sun’s reflective light shinning across the surface of Saturn, casting a red-yellow haze upon the city lights. It was so close and big and bright, one could see the gases that formed the planet rotate among its gravitational pull.

“Oh man, Wally would be so jealous.” The boy’s eyes never left the sky, committing the sight to memory. If he was going to die on this rock Richard wouldn’t mind a view like this being the last thing he saw.

Richard finally blinked when the tunnel swallowed the speeding tram, plunging it back into darkness. He looked back momentarily morning the loss of the scene. Dick wasn’t given much time to think about it when the train suddenly lurched forward, knocking the teen off his feet and into one of the seats.

Sparks flew across the car and the screeching sound of metal on metal was horrendous as the tram was forced into a stop. Finding his footing Richard ran through the cars, balancing his weight to keep from falling. A loud snap of wire breaking stole the air from his lungs and he jumped for a window seal for purchase. 

The tram cars all began to drop vertically. 

“Oh crap, oh shit! This is bad. Oh, this is nowhere near whelming!” Richard screamed when his fingers failed to hold and he started sliding down through the cars. Dick hit hard, every surface he tried to catch, bruising limbs and cracking ribs with each smack. Passing a door into the next car left the teen with a broken nose when his face connected with the side. 

The colorful string of curses that flew from his mouth would have had Alfred making him eat soap for a year if he could hear him. The thought brought Dick little comfort as he mentally apologized to the faithful butler and grandfather figure. 

Falling through the last car door, Richard could see the ground of an unfamiliar room come up fast to greet him. The feeling of weightlessness he could not control left his mind blank, and just before he struck Richard thought of his parents last moments alive. 

‘This….This was the last thing they felt. The last thing they saw. Oh God.’

Dick heard rather than felt his head connect with the floor. That was the last thing he heard as the world faded from his sight. 

~ 

Wally snapped his head up when he heard something crack. 

Looking over from his seat on Miss Martian’s ship he saw Conner cracking his knuckles as a form of distraction. The speedster would have told the younger teen to cut it out, but he had a feeling that was the only thing keeping the clone from punching something. 

The red head couldn’t blame him, they were all on edge. Since the second they saw the bloodied ship to the end of the message Robin sent, there was nothing but anxiety and apprehension among the young heroes. Looking around the ship, Wally could see it on everyone’s face, the burning question that was dancing menacingly in their minds. 

‘Are we going on a rescue mission to save Robin or are we searching for a body?’ 

Wally rung his hands together and looked out into the empty void, spotting Superman flying beside the ship and the Bat jet next to him. Having the opportunity to finally go into space should have had the sixteen year old through the flipping roof; instead it only upset him further. 

‘Would we find him still on the ship, or am I going to find his corpse floating outside.’ He shivered and brought his knees to his chest resting his head on top. ‘Don’t think like that now. You know Rob, always one for the dramatics. Bet the smug bastard already took care of the problem and is sitting on his happy ass waiting for us to show up.’ 

His smile faltered when he thought back to the video. ‘Robin didn’t look smug, hell Robin didn’t even look like Robin.’ The panic on his younger face and the dead glam that settled into his once expressive eyes seared itself into Wally’s memory. 

‘He’s not dead; Dick’s too smart for that. He was just tired is all. Just a bit freaked out.’

Wally hasn’t seen his best friend in six months. The last memory was of him promising to take pictures and calling him as soon as he could. Wally waited. The call never came. Knowing it was a mission, the red head elected to just give the ebony crap about it when he got home. No harm no foul. 

Dick was happy, healthy, laughing the last time he saw him; in person at least. That video may be the last time he ever hears from his best friend and that was not the last memory he wanted from him. Wally wanted the younger to laugh at him when he chokes on his food, or trips while running, or getting another nose bleed. He wanted the teen to watch movies with him and point out all the flaws in the plot and acting. Or joke about some odd thing or other. 

He wants the last memory of his little brother to be him wearing the smile he has when he’s performing some acrobatic stunt and landing it with no trouble. To talk about his crush on Barbra and how Bruce praised his work or how Alfred makes the best cookies in the known universe; other than his mom. 

Wally wanted his last memory to be of Dick happy; not the terrified, frail, hurt individual who was on the other side of the screen. He doesn’t want Dick to die afraid and alone and so far away from home. That was not what he wanted.

But the question still remained. ‘Are we going on a rescue mission to save Robin or are we searching for a body?’ 

Wally began to shake and slowly rock himself in his seat.

`  
Roy noticed the other boy’s movement off the corner of his eye. He wanted to get up from his seat and help with whatever it was that was troubling the red head. Put an arm around his shoulders and reassure him on their little brother’s health. 

He didn’t do either.

The red archer couldn’t bring himself to spout false comforts to the other. Couldn’t even do it for himself. So he stayed put to count then recount his arrows, check then recheck his bow. Because that was all he could do to keep from shouting and kicking and abusing whatever was nearest to him.

His grip was tight on his equipment, and his face was set in stone. Roy’s memory replayed the words Robin whispered on the fuzzy screen. ‘I’m not fool enough to think I’ll still be alive when you get this, neither should you. If they don’t kill you, you will kill yourself. And that is how they work. You do it because they want you to, because the Marker wants you to.’

Roy didn’t even want to think about what that meant. He wasn’t an idiot, nor was he a stranger to the idea of suicide. He dare say he wouldn’t be here now if the little bird hadn’t shoved his way into the archer’s heart and life, demanding to be heard. Took that dark secret Roy kept from everyone and flushed it along with the thoughts and addiction that came with it. 

The look of fear and betrayal when he found out what Roy did in his free time was enough to make him seek help and get clean. That and the last thing he needed was the Bat on his back. It sucked, was a long 6 months, but the relief on Richard’s face when he finished was worth it. He always had a reason to smile at Roy after that; finally earning him the title of older brother. The ebony always found a reason to smile anyways.

Dick found a way to make light of any situation. Was always the hope at the end of the crappy tunnel for so many among the band of heroes. Whether it be amusing the others with lame jokes and terrible puns, or offering comfort and advice far too sensible for someone his age. He made this messed up family whole, by acting as the playful little brother, the wise future leader and the glue of damned sunshine in all their f#cked up lives. 

‘Richard wouldn’t kill himself, not because of his own thoughts or because something else told him. Dick’s stronger than that, braver than that.’ Roy tried to get the ebony’s broken smirk and hollowed eyes out of his head as he recounted his arrows. ‘Right?’

`  
Conner was, for the lack of a better word, pissed. He was pissed at this Marker thing for causing all these problems; he was pissed at the people behind the illegal trip, and the people finding the thing. He was pissed at Batman who would allow their youngest member go alone on a far away mission. He was pissed at Robin for not expecting to survive. But most of all he was pissed at himself for his inability to do anything about it. 

Connor was pissed. 

As much as he wanted to hit something, it would only result in distracting Megan, and possibly getting him in trouble with Batman. Not like he cared but he didn’t need to get kicked off the mission. So he sat quietly and fumed, cracking his knuckles once in a while to distract himself. 

He couldn’t hit anything now, but he could guarantee the second they landed all bets were off. Conner was going to put Superman to shame with his speed and ferocity when he tears that ship apart. No room will be spared and no enemy will slow him down. 

Every tiny detail on the messenger craft, every gory aspect of the creature that came in behind Robin only furthered his determination and rage. They didn’t look that tough. Robin was strong and fast and skilled, but he was only human, one without powers. He would get tired and hungry and scared. He could get hurt. 

He was hurt. 

He was scared.

Conner clenched his fist and crossed his arms to restrain himself. Scared didn’t look right on Robin, he was braver than anyone Connor had ever met. He stared danger in the face and laughed. In that video he was barely able to speak above a frighten whisper. The super’s insides clenched. That wasn’t right. 

The teen had seen Robin hurt before, came with the job. They’ve all been injured at some point or another. Has had to help and shelter him from stronger enemies. The super has had to even carry the ebony to safety when he broke his leg and twisted his ankle. He was heavier than Conner had expected, made up of nothing but small, lean muscles, but still light and frail in his arms. But even then the adolescent was still smiling and joking around through gritted teeth.

Connor has seen Robin hurt. But not like this. And he didn’t like it. He could imagine the young hero weighed even less now. Regardless, the minute, the very second he found the little bird he was going to pick him up and carry him back to Batman. Connor would carry him all the way to the ship and hold him till they got back to Earth, but something told him he would suffer the Bat’s wrath if he didn’t give Robin up to him. 

That was fine by him, gives Connor the freedom to beat anything that came within hitting distance.

`  
Artemis sat in her seat and quietly ran her finger threw her long hair. She did her best to block out the terror ridden face she saw on screen. Tried to mentally place a mask where it was suppose to set, because Robin wasn’t Robin without it. Without his mask he wasn’t the vigilante that took Gotham as his home to save. 

No without it he was Richard Grayson, orphan adopted by Bruce Wayne. Who would stalked her in the hallways as a game and hold inside jokes with her she didn’t understand until now. Dick Grayson who she could tell had the biggest crush on one Barbra Gordon. Perfect grades, and competition winning smiles and a laugh that was all too familiar and safe. 

And Artemis felt like the biggest idiot on the planet for not noticing sooner. 

It doesn’t feel right, that she found out his secret this way. That his identity was blown because of something she wasn’t even a part of. She knew how valuable a secret was, and how close Robin kept his card to his chest even while wearing his heart on his sleeve. 

She wouldn’t mention it to him if, ‘when’, they found him. And if, ‘when’, he goes back to school she won’t act any differently unless he says it’s okay. Because she knows and she thinks he would be grateful for that. And now she can match that smile with a friendly face.

But,

Would saving him really be worth everything that he’ll have to go through after? Artemis was willing to bet she was the only one thinking of this. And if voiced won’t make her very popular among the rest of the team, but is his life going to be any better once he’s home. Would he really be thankful to them for doing this? He told them himself to stay out of it. Look away and leave it alone.

She began to braid her hair. He won’t be the same. Life in Gotham, especially as a hero, can toughen anyone up but that doesn’t make them invulnerable. She saw his face, same as everyone else. He doesn’t believe for a second he’s going to survive. The chances are against him that he’s still alive at all and they lessen every moment. 

‘He’s going to be in the hospital for a while, therapy even longer. He won’t smile or laugh as much, won’t joke or play like he used to. He’ll jump at every movement out of the corner of his eye. He’ll get sick and triggered every time he watches a move or plays a video game. He’ll have flashbacks and nightmares worse than anything Gotham had ever thrown at him for the rest of his life. He’ll be dead on his feet, with only a survival instinct to keep him going; until he finally starts to question that too.’

Artemis has seen PTSD before, knows what it can drive people to do, to become. And so she thinks and hates herself a little more with every thought. But she hopes he died quickly, painlessly and prays he isn’t still struggling and suffering alone. Because if they find him alive, she can’t help but wonder whether or not they’ll be bringing home a corpse anyways. 

Better to let sleeping ghosts lie. 

`  
Megan kept her focus on steering the ship and away from the loud thoughts that cluttered the room. She didn’t want to hear the other’s fears and doubts about the mission or whether or not Robin was still alive. She just wanted to make it to the Ishimura. So the Martian kept her eyes forward and thoughts on driving. 

It was hard when everyone was practically screaming. Mentally that is. The negative thoughts were slowly wearing down on her. She was getting a headache. Megan practiced some of the breathing exercises her uncle taught her to try and ease the feelings away. It didn’t help much, but there was nothing more she could do about it.

They had only left not even an hour ago and she was already exhausted. Despite her efforts, the ship could only go so fast. If she looked out the back there was a high guarantee Earth would still be visible enough to see the clouds in the atmosphere. They weren’t going fast enough. At least not fast enough to her liking, Megan didn’t even want to imagine how maddening it must be for Batman. 

They needed to be at the Ishimura now. No, they needed to be there five months ago. Robin was hurt and scared and Megan could feel the maternal instinct in her screaming to bring him home. He looked so small, the Martian had never thought of their little bird as small, not in that regard. Tears began to prick her eyes when she felt Wally’s anguish and shook her head.

‘No not now, there’s no time for that.’

She had cried her fill, now was the time to act. Crying wouldn’t get them closer to Robin, weeping wouldn’t bring him home. There was nothing for the others to do, but Megan needed her wits about her to push her ship into motion. It wouldn’t do to slow Batman and the other down because she felt the need to shed tears. So steeling her mind while simultaneously sending out soothing thoughts to her friends, Megan flew.

Once they drew closer to the Ishimura’s last coordinates, Megan will release the controls to Kaldur then focus on finding Robin’s mental readings. Or any other survivor’s if she can, whether or not she is able to find them could be the determining factor on if they search the ship or not. Batman was clear, no unnecessary risks. She couldn’t afford a miss read.

Megan secretly wished it was her uncle that had been given such an important task. But with the sudden disappearance of the three founding members of the League it was imperative John stay behind. The pressure for her success was huge and she felt intimidated and inept of the job. If Connor found out about her feelings on the matter he would try to convince her and Batman not to do it, that wouldn’t help anyone. 

She shuddered when she thought of the sounds the creatures made in the message. She couldn’t even imagine what sort of thoughts they might have. And Robin had to deal with that nightmare all alone. Compared to his problems, her troubles paled greatly. She wouldn’t mess this up. In spite of of everyone else’s thoughts she knew Robin was alive, she could feel it. Megan won’t accept failure. 

Not on her part. 

`  
Kaldur watched from the back of the ship, watched each and every one of his team battle with their own fears and demons about the outcome of this mission. He was the leader of this young group of heroes. And never more has he felt so out of his depth. This wasn’t a undemanding recover mission, or a quick info gathering. There was always risk with a mission, this was something else entirely.

The Atlantian felt wholly unprepared for the battlefield they were going to walk into, insecurities crept into his mind on his skills as a leader. True there was Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman to guide them and lead, but ultimately the Team would look to him for instruction. Because that’s what they did. The bond they had all formed over the past year in a half put their undying faith in the one who would lead them, him. He didn’t feel worthy of such trust. 

The blonde could feel his shoulders bow from the burden. ‘How would Robin handle this? What would he do?’

The questions floated in his head often. The boy was young but held so much more experience, had seen so many more horrors in Gotham than him. A fight between Scarecrow had left him shaking for a week, while the ebony brushed it off as nothing. Kaldur was not fit for this. If he was not careful in his leadership they stand to lose more than just Robin to whatever was happening.

Underneath the calm exterior, Kaldur was terrified at what the possibilities of failure could hold. The creatures that appeared briefly in the message were a sight to behold. ‘How does one go about stopping them? Robin held a gun, is killing the creatures the only option? Will that diminish our titles as heroes to end their existence? Do we really have a choice?’ There were too many things left unanswered and more questions they might not have even considered. This wasn’t a simple mission they were headed to; they were on their way to war. A war Robin has already been fighting for five months now. That thought alone left a bitter taste in his mouth. 

‘He’s too young for war. Then again Robin was the first sidekick in existence, in Gotham no less. He’s been fighting long before this.’ 

That was enough to set his mind both at ease and discourage. ‘He’s fought for so long already. But that just might be what will keep him alive in the end; unless he’s already dead.’ Kaldur flinched when a mental image of Robin’s corpse entered his mind. He saw Megan flinch as well and willed his thoughts to peace. 

‘I shouldn’t allow my fears and insecurities burden Megan, she has enough on her to bear.’ Squaring his shoulders the teen stood up. When the time comes he could only hope to make the right calls, but for now his team needed him for a different reason. Looking around the room, Kaldur moved to the rocking speedster first.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope I was able to stay in character for everyone. Megan was the hardest. While I think she is a bit more frail than the others she is also an incredible BA when she wants to be, and I love her for that. 
> 
> Hope I met everyone's expectations. I try to keep a more regular update schedule.  
> Until we meet again.


	8. Little Hands

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The fastest way to Daina was lost, now Richard must find another way to her. With the traverse into a new location Dick finds a new determination to meet and save the little ones who were brave enough to live in space. Not all wishes are granted in the way we would like.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry, sorry. So long since the last update. I'm sorry. I'll do better this year I promise.
> 
> Trigger warnings:  
> Panic Attacks, Injury, Blood, Gore  
> I think that's it.

Chapter 8:

Sprawl, Titan

….

19:43 Hours

A steady sound of dripping was what brought Richard back. Leaving his eyes closed as he listened; the beat of the unknown liquid was constant, its relaxing rhythm nearly sending the boy back to sleep. Half awake Dick tried to determine where the leak was coming from, slowly gaining feeling back into his body. 

Wet.

His face felt wet, and sticky. It smelled like copper. His nose hurt. His face hurt. It was becoming harder to breathe as his lungs began to refuse to draw in enough oxygen. His ribs, back and head were an inferno. His left leg remained numb and cold. The pain that was registering throughout his body spurred an on slot on his nervous system. So many signals making their way to his head so fast it made him nauseous.

Dick tried to curl into himself as the hurt intensified with each passing second, only to find he was unable to do so. The ebony whimpered, opened his eyes and had to blink out the crimson that threatened to blind him. Through his blurred vision Dick saw the world upside-down and swaying from side to side. 

Fixing his gaze on what was holding him up, Richard found a wire wrapped tightly around his left leg, slowly cutting off circulation to the appendage. The front of the train car held the other end keeping him suspended a good three feet off the ground. The only saving grace in this is the wire probably kept him from breaking his neck in the fall. 

Tears gathered in the boy’s eyes mixing with the blood that poured down his face from his broken nose, staining his forehead red. Looking at the ground below him Dick found a small puddle forming around his head, his movements sending more drops of red to join it from his hair. 

‘Well, that explains the dripping then.’ Richard would have started laughing hysterically at his damnable situation if he was able to draw in a proper breath. 

Every inhale was a knife in his lungs. Every exhale was a punch in the chest. Dick didn’t need a doctor to tell him he’s fractured a few ribs, if they’re not broken. Other than the dripping and a fire burning somewhere in the background, Richard could only hear the pathetic sound of his wheezing as he breathed. Not having the energy for anything else, Dick focused on that. In and out, gasp then release. It was agony.

It felt like his last fight with Bane and Killer Croc. The two beefed up meat heads managing to come together in some sort of fragile agreement to beat the shit out of both him and Batman. Left them bed ridden in half a body cast for three months, the bastards.

If given a choice Richard would have just hung there and practiced his breathing with a ‘smashed’ ribcage. Unfortunately that wasn’t an option, if left here any longer he was going to pass out again from the weight building in his head. It was possible he could bleed out from an injury he hasn’t found yet, or from his nose. He might suffocate, his lungs would collapse and cause pneumonia, or even better the air pressure in his chest would build enough to cut off blood flow to his heart. The lack of circulation from the wire will leave his leg dead and useless. He’s already missing a finger; Richard is not planning on amputating his leg as well.

Careful and cautious of his injuries, Robin began to scan his surroundings. He was in a storage facility of sorts. Crates and boxes goods were stacked along the walls and in piles in the middle of the room. Aside from the debris from his ride the place was clean. The fires cast an eerie glow across the room. Richard finally found his guns lying on the ground not far from the ever growing puddle.

Dick weighed his options. He could stretch out and reach for his weapons then shot the wire holding him, aggravating his ribs, back and anything else that was damaged. Or he could curl up and hull himself to his leg relieving the pressure, then waste what little energy he has to saw at the wire with the scalpel in his belt. Either way he isn’t going to land on his feet and he’s going to hurt through the whole ordeal. 

“Well crap, screwed either way I look at it.” 

During his internal struggle a noise other than his breathing echoed across the room. It sounded like a thud in a vent. 

Richard paled. “Oh God no.”

The thud and scratching was accompanied with another and another before a vent cap flew from its perch on the wall. 

The screeching that followed sent the boy into a blind panic. Fear far over riding pain. Unable to think straight, other than the fact that he was hanging in the middle of a large room incapacitated and without a weapon, Dick clawed at the air above his head. His thin fingers just barely touching the gun in front of him, every miss caused him to swing on the wire and his mind to unravel even more. 

More vents broke and more shattering cries joined the fray, the petrified child could barely hear them over the sound of his own hyperventilating cries and terrified screams. Hearing the creatures in the dark and finding their shadows dance across the floor from the fires around him made the teen scramble even more. 

His movement became uncoordinated; he made himself dizzy with vertigo and his throat and lungs were raw with sudden abuse. Having lost all sense of logic Dick grabbed the scalpel from his belt and began swinging wildly, the erratic movements had him spinning and blurred the environment, feeding more fuel to the fire on his panic.

Somewhere in the back of his mind Richard knew what he was doing was bad, he was hurting himself physically by agitating his injuries possibly making them worse. He was destroying himself emotionally by allowing his panic to override his mentality and everything he’s learned on how to survive. He could bet Bruce would be disappointed in him for not acting like the hero he trained him to be, but Bruce wasn’t here right now, Dick was alone and he was going to die.

The blade of the scalpel made contact with something fleshly; muscle memory had Robin block an attack with his free arm, keeping anything sharp from piercing anything important or vital to live. Using his new found anchor, the Bird clung to the attacker and made quick work of its head and arm, dismembering the appendage and pushing the thing away from his person as it screamed in rage. Having a new and longer weapon in his hands allow Richard’s panic to die a little. It was luck that he was even still breathing at this rate. 

Hearing something close in behind him Robin utilized his core muscles to turn his torso and swing the protruding bone at the offending presence. The Slasher that was edging close lost its legs and fell to the floor before it received a pierce through its skull. A high pitched yelp made the boy turn again and throw the limb at the Exploder’s glowing puss filled arm. The resulting blast obliterated most of the Necro’s surrounding it. 

Grabbing the carcass of the Slasher below him, Robin was finally able to leverage himself and grab on to the plasma cutter. Its first victim was the first attacker coming back for revenge. Clearing the room was quick work after that. Half blinded by blood in his eye, the panic from before was gone as the teen found solace in the gun held steadily in his heads. 

His breathing was rapid and painful, the swinging made his leg even more numb than before and his ears were ringing. Before Richard could catalog any new or worsening injuries the train lurched forward, the boy losing a foot from the ground. 

Robin could hear something making its way through the train, something big. ‘The screaming and gunshots must have lured it here. Shit.’

Aiming his plasma cutter toward the opening in the train, Dick saw a large misshapen arm fit through the door. 

“A Brute how lovely.” 

Richard grit his teeth and began shooting, being quick to reload when his clip ran dry. It took ten quick session shots to blow the abominations arm off. The thing collapsed, putting more weight on the train. With a dead sway of its remaining arm, the appendage caught the wire holding the boy up and snapped it. Gravity doing the rest sent Dick to the ground, landing him on his back.

The impact left him groaning as he lied there. He wasn’t given much time to recover. With the added burden to it the ceiling and wall holding the crashed tram in place began to lose purchase. Dick was just barely able to roll over and avoid getting crushed by falling debris. Wasting no more time he stood and ran away from the falling train. 

With his leg still numb and ribs and back on fire, the boy wasn’t able to move fast enough to avoid getting blown forward by the explosion that followed the tram’s collision with the ground. The noise was deafening. Metal on metal like nails on a chalkboard.

Dick was on the floor once more, but with no immediate threat he opted to stay there for a bit and allowed the ringing in his ears to stop. 

The ebony rolled onto his back and sat up with his elbows. Richard watched the tram as it was consumed by fire. He couldn’t help it. He laughed. Dick had to lay himself back down and hug his chest as hysterical giggles racked his battered body. 

“Holy shit, I can’t believe I live through that.” Richard was gasping and tried to control himself before he pierced a lung through sheer stupidity. But the whole situation was too funny to be ignored. When he was finished he worked on regaining his breath. “Heh, it’s been a while since I laughed like that.”

When the black dots in his vision cleared, Dick slowly got to his feet. He wasn’t able to stand to his full height and stayed hunched into himself to avoid further harm to his rib cage.

“Now,” Richard looked around again. “Where the hell am I?” The question was one he seemed to ask himself a lot recently. But without a map or schematic on the city he was in, he supposed it was a reasonable question.

Opening up his rig he called the only person with the information he needed. “Daina, I need a new route.” 

“What happen. I-” Daina stopped short when she saw the blood smeared across the boy’s upper face and the odd angle of his nose. She could see a burse starting to form on one side of his head. “Oh my God! Are you okay, what the hell happened? I talk to you not fifteen minutes ago!”

“Unscheduled stop. I’m a bit lost. Mind giving me directions?” The smile he sent her would have been charming were his teeth not bloody. 

The blonde only nodded then turned to another screen in front of her. “Hang on. Alright this won’t be fun. You have a bit of a walk but this is the quickest route I can give you without the tram. It will take you the Cassini Towers residential sector, from there-” 

A beeping cut her off. Alarmed she began to trace the source and cursed. “Damn it! Tiedemann has your signal, he’s tracking you. Must have found out you escaped the hospital. Get a move on, I’ll work on getting him off your trail.”

The line disconnected and Richard was left in silence as the rig updated a new route for him to follow. The ebony picked among the corpses he made until he found his scalpel and put it back in his belt. The eerie sound of metal creaking had the boy moving toward the only exit in the room. Counting his ammo and reloading the plasma cutter. Dick mourned the loss of his pistol, but he’s gotten by on less before.

His movements were slow and stiff. He needed a first aid kit fast, otherwise he wasn’t going to be able to evade should the need arrive. The feeling was coming back to his leg, the sensation of needles picking at the limb mercilessly. His walk was more of a gait until the blood flow returned. 

Getting to the door at the top of a stairwell left the boy out of breath again. Turning his head to gaze at the lockers on the wall Dick spotted a first aid set hanging next to them. Richard just about cried in relief. 

The white boxed first aid kit that sat on the wall was like a beacon in the dimmed room. Hobbling over, Richard just about ripped the kit from its hinges. Setting it on the floor and opening the compartment proved to be the best decision Dick has made his entire time here. 

Not only was it fully stocked with aid syringes, but also bandages, wipes, medical tape, painkillers and even burn ointment. To top it all off, someone had hid their lunch behind all the medical equipment. A ham and cheese sandwich with a bottle of water and off brand chips had never before looked so appetizing. Richard wasted no time ripping the wrapping off the simple meal. The boy had to force himself not to shove the whole thing in his mouth, instead taking small, slow bite to make it last.

“Oh, God.” Dick sniffed and rubbed his abused nose on his sleeve. 

The sandwich wasn’t anything special. The bread was stale and the meat and cheese tasted odd, more than likely substitutes to make up for the lack of animals in space. Tears ran down sunken cheeks as Richard took another careful bite. Sitting with his back leaning against the wall, the boy enjoyed his first lunch in forever. 

At least it felt like forever.

Swallowing the last of the chips and sipping at the water to make it last, Dick rubbed at his eyes. “Geez, I can understand how food could make Wally cry now. Respect Wall man, respect.” The boy chuckled, wincing when the movement aggravated his ribs.

Not wasting any more time, Richard pulled the med kit to him and took the first aid syringe and injected the blue liquid into his blood stream. It took longer for the fluid to take full effect. Dick chalked it up to the long list of injuries that it needed to take care of.

Waiting for the worst of the pain to pass, the ebony leaned back against the wall and played with the wrapper the sandwich was in and taking the occasional sip of water. Richard wanted nothing more than to chug the whole thing and wet his dried out throat. Doing so however would result in two things, one he would get sick and throw it back up and two he would run out faster without any idea of how to get more.

Dick ran a hand though his hair and grimaced at the stickiness on his face. “Must look like I took a crowbar to the face.” He gently felt his broken nose and sighed. “God, this is gonna f#cking hurt.”

Careful to keep his tongue out of the way Richard pinched his nose between his thumbs and quickly forced it back into place. Dick grunted at the snap and caught the new blood that drained out. He grabbed the medical tape and bandages and went to work on the open wounds and scrapes. Wrapping his ribs, cleaning off his face and stitching a cut in his arm, with the assistance of the aid syringe Richard was on his feet and ready to go in roughly twenty minutes.

Taking a small bit of time to stretch and test his limb movement. His ribs and faced ached and he was damned lucky his panicked thrashing from before didn’t cause any additional damage. Gathering up the remaining medical supplies and the bottled water, Richard stashed them in his inventory and made his way toward the door. 

The teen hesitated at the thought of leaving his present peace. The thought however of the lives that were struggling to survive had him swallow his anxiety. 

“Alright, time to get traught or get dead.” Cracking his neck and knuckles, bouncing on the balls of his feet Richard pumped himself up the fight ahead of him. “Lost my easy way to Daina, but that’s okay. Always did like a challenge.” He grinned and rubbed his hands together. “I got this.”

The second the door opened Richard felt his confidence sink to his feet. The grin slipped off his face when he saw the shadow twitching erratically at the end of the hall near a torn corpse. The noise it was emitting was a series of throat groans, clicks and what echoed like a monkey’s shriek. It sounded nothing like any of the other necros the boy had faced before. 

This was a new breed of demon.

Richard didn’t have any data on it.

“This is bad.” He swallowed hard.

A lack of information on any of the things that roamed the station could be fatal. Dick had to learn quickly on the Ishimura what made these things tick and the most efficient way to dispose of each of them. Any hesitation, any misread could lead to acting the wrong way. The end result of that is extremely lethal and messy. The fact that he needed information on a new enemy wasn’t the problem. It was the fact that there was a new enemy at all is what scared him.

“God, their evolving.” Richard thought hard. ‘Does it have armor? Is there any visible weaknesses? Is it the only one or are there more? What’s the requirement to change into this one? Is it smarter? Faster? Not gonna know till I face it.’

With grim resolve, Robin stepped forward. Back to the wall and plasma cutter aimed at the shadow. As he inched closer the shade froze, Robin doing the same. The slight tilt of the head and straightening of the back caused the shadow to stand tall along the wall. 

It knew he was there.

However just as Robin prepared himself for a fight the creature screamed and ran out of the light. Its shadow disappeared. Against his better judgment the teen sprinted after it, his bad leg making it hard to make the long strides. Just as he rounded the corner the abomination flew up a ramp. The only thing Robin saw was a small pale white leg before it vanished, its screams echoing behind it. 

Richard’s gaze turned puzzled. ‘It didn’t fight?’ Glancing around the room at the bodies and what looked like fresh gore he knew it was a trap. 

“I hate it when they think.” The boy growled. 

There was nothing else in the room and with no other exit point in sight Richard was forced to follow after it. The floor was covered in red, but the way it streaked along the ramp it was easy to guess that someone was dragged to the door. Dick hoped whoever they were, they were dead at that point.

He reached the exit and not allowing himself anymore time to think about it, Richard opened the door and rolled inside. Landing in a crouched position near the center of the long space, the teen quickly scanned the area and noticed a complete lack of enemies. Well in sight at least.

The room was devoid of windows, the dark was barely illuminated by neon colored lights of a candy shop. Standing and observing the surrounding area had the boy’s blood drain from his face.

It wasn’t just a candy store that was lighting the room. There was a toy store and a clothing store for children. Simple tunes were playing from speakers in the ceiling that sounded chillingly like lullabies with kids laughing in the background. 

Constantly thinking the situation on the station is similar to what happened on the Ishimura had once again come back to kick him in the teeth. It was easy to forget in the chaos where he was, so easy. Too easy to forget the difference between lives lost on a job within a ship and lives lost in a city with homes. Homes that had encouraged not only safety and peace but the change to build families within that safety; families with kids and toddlers and infants.

The closest thing to children Richard found on the Ishimura were in tubes in medical. Couldn’t have little ones roaming about a planet cracker, much too dangerous. But a station made specifically made to colonize other planets.

Richard stared for a long time at the colorful entrance to the Titan Station Elementary School. Crafts hung above the door made with clumsy precision and too much glitter glue. A large painting of a cat in a space suit was surrounded with the proud works of 1st grade artists. A trophy case on the side to show off achievements accomplished by the feats of those barely able to tie their own shoes.

Dick didn’t even notice himself move toward the wall of over painted papers and crudely drawn and colored pictures. He read the names on each work of art, some written messily and others written by who must have been the teacher. One by one he committed the names to memory, saying them under his breath as a small prayer. He found three other Richards on the wall, there was a few Megans, Roys and Wallys too, so many Connors, only one Bruce. No Artemis or Kaldur though. 

Dick wanted to meet them, all of them. See if they were best friends. Did any of the Megans like to cook or cheer or say ‘Hello Megan’ and tap themselves on the head? Where any of the Connors always angry? Did they always try to rip their shirts and yell when upset? Were there Roys who were moody but loved to be included in things? Did they want to be seen as grown up by others? Did the Wallys eat a lot, were they really active and ran all over the place? How old were all of them? 

Did Bruce and the Richards have their parents? 

Did they get along? 

Were they together? 

Were they alone?

Were they scared?

Are they alive?

He was shaking again, hand held against the wall half in support and half in wanting to be a little closer to such brave children. Tears blurred his vision but he didn’t let them fall. Instead he straightens his back and smiled at the colors.

“Don’t you guys worry about a thing, cause I’ll let you know a secret. Now you can’t tell anyone okay?” Dick rubbed at his eyes then did his best hero pose, whispering to the names on the pages. “My name is Robin, and I’m a superhero. I don’t have any superpowers but I work with my partner Batman in Gotham City, and we stop bad guys from hurting people. I heard you were in trouble so I came to fight all the bad monsters for you. S-so don’t be scared okay, cause I’m…..I’m going to fix this. I promise.”

Richard couldn’t keep the hitch from his voice but was filled with a new found determination. He would do this. This became more than just survival and a mission. He would find all the kids and introduce himself; he’ll plow through any and all necromorphs to get to them. Dick will help them find their families if he can and comfort them when he can’t, because that’s his job. The one reason he became a hero in the first place.

Grabbing his weapon from his belt and marching away from the school with fire in his eyes, Richard remembered everything that made him Robin. Screw his self-pity and guilt, Robin was a symbol of hope and dammit that’s exactly what he was going to bring.

Just as he passed the closed doors to the toys store however, Dick heard that monkey screech fill the air only it was accompanied with a dozen others. Turning to face the oncoming threat, he froze.

They were small, crawling on all four from under a little gap in the toy store’s door, before standing up and charging at him. Eyes sunken in, mouths without lips, all sharp teeth and no nose. Their thin torsos torn open at the stomach, and fingers punctured with elongated claws. None of them were clothed; pale, bloodied, bald bodies exposed for all to see.

Richard wanted to meet the little ones who had taken over the wall with proud pictures. Wanted to protect them from the things that stalk the halls. Wanted to give them a chance to grow up and be whatever they wanted.

It was only now that Richard realized, it wasn’t a monkey’s screeching he heard from them as they attacked in packs.

It was the screams of dying children.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hate The Pack.


	9. Distracting Thoughts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Its hard to focus on what you're doing when your mind and everyone else is working against you. Richard is in desperate need of a distraction from all the harmful thoughts making their way through his psyche. Fighting isn't cutting it anymore.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger Warnings: You have been warned.

Chapter 9: Distracting Thoughts

Sprawl, Titan

Outside Titan Station Elementary 

20:37 Hours

 

‘They are dead’

It was quiet. Uncomfortably quiet. The type of calm one would expect in death. The vents were empty of predators, the speakers fell still, bodies lay on the ground unmoving. All was silent, except for the endless screaming that had taken residence inside Richard’s head. 

‘They were dead from the start.’

It echoed mercilessly within his temples and behind his eyelids. He flinched violently when the screaming began forming words as they attacked him. Hateful words, angry words, accusing words all directed towards him. Dick couldn’t remember clearly if they were really screeching such things at him during the fight or if he was imaging the whole thing over the sound of his weapon tearing though thin bones and soft skin. 

‘Children, they were children.’

Richard stared at the gore ridden ground unseeing. It hurt to look, so he didn’t. Dick swallowed and grimaced determined not to see what lay on the floor around him. To see what he did. What he was unable to prevent. 

‘They were so small, so little, so so young.’

His face bled from a new mark across his left cheek to the bridge of his nose. The initial shock of seeing the tiny bodies left him unable to dodge the first attack. It was deep. Blood and mucus filled his nostrils making it hard to breath. The probability of it scaring was high if he didn’t take care of it soon. Dick found he wasn’t able to really give a shit.

‘Did they cry? Did they scream? For their moms, their dads, their siblings?’

On the off chance he made it out of here there was no way he was going to be able to function like he used to. No chance in hell in going back and being himself at home, on the team. What was one scar on his face compared to the dozens on the rest of him? That isn’t even counting the mental damage.

‘Did they beg for mercy? Did it hurt till the very end? Did they feel themselves break?’

He sniffed then spit the collective moisture out of his mouth. He needed to move, keep going. But doing so meant he had to leave the middle of the room. Meant he had to step over little bodies crumpled and broken on the floor. He would need to watch his footing to avoid tripping and he wasn’t ready to do that. Not just yet. 

‘You did this. Why should you be allowed to live, when they were not?’

It was a shame he had to lose the small lunch he had enjoyed not even an hour before. The taste of bile and copper was fresh in his mouth. The silence in the room was unbearable. It gave to much room for his mind to think, to scream at him, to abuse what little sanity he had left.

‘Were they dying while you sat there, were they dead before you-‘ 

Richard flinched again, startled by his rig suddenly bringing up a holo-feed. The boy expected to see Daina, ready to lecture him on the importance of time once again. Instead he got a thin, awkward smile from Stross as he came into view. Dick was surprised the man was even still alive but the relief of seeing him made his own thin shoulders sag. 

In reality he was overjoyed for the distraction. Even if it was temporary. 

“Little Bird! Richard! You still alive? I haven’t seen you in a while.” The man’s voice was almost a whisper, he moved and looked into the feed at an odd angle but he was there and he was talking. That was enough for Dick.

“Yeah, good to see you Nolan. Are you okay? Where are you?” 

“Can’t talk long Little Bird. I think they’re tracking our signals. Won’t be long before they find us.” Nolan kept looking behind him in apprehension, but once he faced the feed again he was all nervous smiles. “Are the memories coming back to you yet? They are for me.”

“What memories?” Dick couldn’t hide that he was curious. Did they share some memories? He was missing three months maybe more, it was possible.

“The good ones,” Nolan lost the small smile and put his hands to his temples, breath catching in his throat. “Ow.”

“N-Nolan?” A knot twisted in his stomach.

“The bad ones….The more I remember the more my head hurts.” The older man looked back but kept one eye closed, his face scrunched in pain. “The symbols, their everywhere. I see them everywhere. Do you see them too, Little Bird? The symbols? His face….I-I keep seeing his face.”

Richard wasn’t able to respond before something off screen caught the others attention. “Aww shit…They found me.”

‘No’

The holo disconnected and Dick was left in silence once more. His heart was hammering in his throat. He tried calling Nolan again and again but the line remained closed. 

‘Nonononono, please not yet. Distract me a little longer. Keep me company a little longer, please.’ 

Unable to reconnect with the other man, Dick was left alone with his thoughts. Richard knew from the video back at medical that Stross was sick, seeing the symbols was just something that came with being near the Marker. Dick could understand the symbols deal. 

But seeing someone he wasn’t supposed to be seeing. That meant Stross was on Richard’s level of sick. The thought was not a comforting one. 

The stink of decay was beginning to sting the boy’s eyes. Even through the damage to his face the stench penetrated his nose.

Finding no use in putting it off any longer, Richard squeezed his eyes shut and slowly maneuvered toward the exit. He dared not look down.

The process was time consuming and the silence was filled with the horrid sound of wet steps as he moved. The ground was uneven and slippery. Dick had to catch himself several times from falling into the mess.

One particularly misplaced step caused something under his shoe to pop. The smell emitted was putrid and the sound made Richard bend over and gagged on stomach acid. The boy had unintentionally opened his eyes when he rested his hands on his knees. The sight below him had tears and snot pour uncontrollably.

His plasma cutter did excellent work cutting flesh and bone. Sometimes sending a blast so powerful it would throw a threat across the room. Richard never bothered to stay long to observe what type of damage was done. Shoot and run. That was how you survived. Don’t think about who they were once, you’ll save yourself the heartache. 

‘You did this.’

Dick couldn’t tear his eyes away from the empty sockets that stared back at him. The mutation didn’t advance as far as the others. One could still see it was human, once. That it was a child once. Baby fat still clung to cheeks, little ears and baby teeth even sharp as they are. 

‘They were children.’

The teen’s breaths were in gasps, unable to breath in the odor coming from the corpse. When his eyes trailed down to look at what he stepped in, Richard removed his foot and held it off the floor to allow the crushed intestine slide off. The smell increased in the movement. 

‘Where were you?’

Richard turned to look back at the child’s face.

It was sitting up.

It was staring back.

It was inches from his face.

Its broken jaw moved and it grabbed his front, nails piercing the armor plating.

“It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. Why does it hurt?”

Richard jerked away, retreating back and tripping over another small body. This one grabbed his leg.

“Where’s mommy? I want mommy.” Its high pitched cries mixing in with the other as it screamed of hurts.

The boy fell back, landing on a pile of freed organs and loose limbs, breath stolen from his lungs leaving him yelling silently.

The carcass Dick fell on top of wrapped its arms around his shoulders and hugged him close. “Help me. Help me before they find me. Help me.” 

Another crawled toward him, latching on to his waist. “They won’t find me. If I’m quiet. It’s like hide and seek. They won’t find me. I can wait. I can wait until sissy finds me. Sissy always makes the monsters go away.”

Richard shook and twisted trying to get them to let go. More of the bodies began to join in. Voices crying and whispering and screaming together as one.

“Miss. Ranger is hurting me!”

“Why is everyone running?”

“I have to find my little brother!”

“I don’t like this!”

“Daddy will save me, just have to find Daddy!”

“Why is this happening?”

“I’m scared!” 

“It hurts!”

“Help me!”

“I don’t want to die.”

Dick couldn’t stop himself from crying. He kicked and punched at the howling figures that threaten to bury him underneath their bodies. “Nononononon. Let me go! Let me go!” 

Richard broke free scrambling on all four to escape the onslaught of screaming last words. Final thoughts the boy knew were being spoken out loud to him because of his failure. Didn’t mean he wanted to hear it. 

The teen hit the far wall. Dick opened his eyes without realizing he had closed them expecting the bodies to follow him.

They were still.

The voices were gone.

Nothing in the room changed. Except maybe the mess made in his attempt to flee from imagined enemies. 

“Oh god. That- that didn’t even feel like a delusion. Oh shit.” Richard shook. The line was starting to blur considerably from reality to fantasy. “Shit. This is- this is not good.” 

He needed help, and he needed it now. Breathing deeply through his mouth and holding it Richard began to do what he could to calm down. Slowing his heart rate like Bruce taught him and blocking out the last few minutes to deal with later. 

After what seemed like an eternity Dick was finally able to settle down and made it to the door. Not even pausing to look back Richard left the room. 

The elevator he entered made quick work of speeding the boy away from the carnage. The further he got the easier he could breath. Not by much, what he’d done for survival and the words spoken in child like wails will haunt him for the rest of his days. However short they may be. 

‘Don’t think about it.’

The elevator music was a welcomed distraction. The teen focused on the tune, however mundane it was and committed it to memory for future use. It took a moment for Richard to realize he was staring at a lit sign in the small space. 

‘The Concourse, Over 150 Shopping Destination to Explore.’

“A shopping center” The teen said thoughtfully. “I’m headed for the mall.”

The doors opened with a chime into a room larger than any other he had been in before. The tall ceilings were made from glass allowing a natural light shine in from the planet. Railings suggested he wasn’t on the first level, and finally stepping into the room made it clear he wasn’t. 

Chairs and tables once used for resting and visiting were scattered and upturned. Bags with company logos sat on the floor next to blood stains and loose papers. Banners hung from the walls and, to Richards’s amusement, windows filled with goods to buy and what looked like fast food restaurants.

“It’s amazing really,” Dick remember telling Wally once. “How every single mall ever has the exact same combination of fast food joints.”

Wally had responded to his smartass comment with a smack to the head as he stuffed his face with a Sbarro’s pizza.

The boy smiled taking in all the stores in sight and already seeing which ones would catch the others attentions. The food court for Wally, a book store Kaldur would excuse himself towards, a clothing store Megan would drag Artemis to and what looked like an astronomy store that would take Conner’s interest. Some of his best memories with his friends had to be in a mall, besides Mount Justice.

A giant mascot in a blue space suit was rotating at the end of the room, holding what looked like a candy bar. Its stupid grin and unevenly drawn on eyes made the boy laugh. He wanted to take a picture to show Wally. If he ever saw him again. 

Somewhere in the background Tiedemann was speaking of evacuation and martial law. 

Richard’s lightened mood dampened again when he looked across the way to see a Unitology recruiting center; the symbol of the dammed Marker sitting out in the open without a care in the world. Dick wasn’t one to shame a religion, but the boy couldn’t help the growl that escaped his throat at the sight of their ‘holy’ relic. 

He needed another distraction. Aware of the state of his face Richard pulled up the audio comm., and called Daina. The first thing that came to mind was another man who was possibly fighting for his life alone. 

“Daina, Nolan called me again. I think something might be after him, were you able to pinpoint his location?”

The woman for her part did not sound amused with the topic subject. “I’m not sure if you remember Richard, but I am currently very busy. On top of watching your vitals to make sure you’re going the right way, I’m also trying to keep Tiedemann off your trail and learn more about the Marker here on the station. Like you asked me to.”

Dick rubbed that his undamaged cheek and kicked at a shopping bag. “Yeah, I remember. But Nolan is important too. He-“

“Is a psychopath Richard.” Her harsh tone caused the bird to stop. “It’s best if you forget about him and stay clear.”

“He’s just sick.” The boy was quick to argue in the older man’s defense. 

“For F#ck’s sake Grayson, the man murdered his own wife and child!”

Dick paused as this new information came to light. Daina sighed. “I didn’t tell you before because I didn’t want to frighten you. There are few left on this station and I understand why you would want to try and save everyone you can, I really do. But there is no helping Stross, he’s too far gone and there isn’t enough time to waste trying to.”

Richard stayed quiet for a while, thinking. “He’s just sick.”

“Richa-“

“No Daina,” Dick balled his fists and glared in front of him. “The Marker did this. That’s what it does, turns men into monsters. I know how it works. I’ve seen it. He’s just sick. He just needs help. He killed his wife and child, okay, so what about the nineteen men I killed only a few months back?! Why am I more worth saving than him? Why is my life more valuable than his? Why are my sins more forgivable when more lives were destroyed by me than him?”

Richard was screaming into the air now, frustration over everything apparent in his voice. 

Daina was quiet, unable or unwilling to give him an answer to his questions. She sighed again, clearly defeated. “Alright, I’ll work harder on finding him. I’ll do what I can to lead him to me then go from there.”

Dick wiped at his sore eyes as he mumbled a sincere thank you to the patient woman on the line.

“Its fine, just continue on. And Richard, I hope we don’t regret this.” The comm. cut. 

Richard was once again left alone. That seemed to be a running theme since being here. Alone. Quiet. With as much isolation as he was getting, Dick wondered if he would be able to function in a large crowd any more. 

It didn’t matter. It was time to move.

Checking the direction to go in on his rig, Richard walked along the walkway admiring all the stores as he passed.

“Amazing that humanity can reach the stars and we still feel the need to visit something as common as a shopping mall.” The small grin on his face made his cheek and nose burn.   
Digging through his inventory, Dick grabbed some gauze and pressed it on the wound. He hissed. “At this rate I’m going to run out of medical supplies fast.” 

Pools of blood cover the ground and looking back Richard noticed with some grim fascination that he was leaving red footprints behind him. Another attempt at distracting himself, he knew. It wasn’t working very well.

Looking up from the route guide leading him to his destination, the ebony stopped. It was taking him straight towards the entrance of the Unitology center. The yellow light cast an eerie outline in the doorway of the Marker. 

“Daina, what the hell? I thought I was making my way to residential. Why am I walking into a Unitology recruitment base? Where are you leading me?”

Richard didn’t give Daina a proper time to greet him when he suddenly bombarded her with questions. Auto comm. was up again not even ten minutes prior to their last conversation. Dick had almost forgotten that he wasn’t supposed to trust the woman on the other line. Not fully, she was hiding something.

“Richard relax, the recruitment center has an old maintenance access point. I know about your keen ability at hacking servers and other such mainframes.” Daina did her best calming voice to pacify the troubled youth. “The tunnels will take you through the waste disposal system and straight into the Cassini Towers.”

“Waste disposal,” Dick smiled. “You’re sending me through a sewer.” Memories of traveling through Gotham’s own fowl smelling sewage system made the teen’s grin widen. Grim faced Batman smelling like waste never ceased to amuse him. 

“I know it’s not the best route but it’s the only one I’ve got for you without the tram. Just be careful, with those things swarming the upper levels and using the vents to travel its unknown how many could be down there.” Daina apologized. “Stay sharp.”

The line cut. 

The teen breathed deeply. “It’s fine Richard. It’s just a way to get me to Daina faster; it is not the final destination. Move fast and you’ll be out of here in no time.” Gritting his teeth, Dick bypassed the security lock to the elevator and stepped inside.

The propaganda for the creed was plastered all over the walls in the confined space. ‘DISCOVER YOUR POTENTIAL’ ‘ONE PEOPLE, ONE MIND, ONE PURPOSE’ ‘FREE, WE ARE ONE, INFORMATION PACKET’. The back wall had a screen of a woman using her hands to form the Marker shape. The bright glow from the monitors made Richard feel sick.

“Don’t think about it. Just move.”

The doors opened and a welcoming voice sounded through the speakers. “Have you ever felt like you were meant to be part of something bigger?”

“Not particularly.” Richard responded deadpanned.

“Then maybe Unitology is for you,”

“Thanks, but I’ve seen your initiation ceremonies. I’ll pass.” He continued to respond as he entered the room.

“Founded by our savior, Michael Altman.”

“Is he the guy I should talk to then? Alright,” Dick stepped up to a desk found in the forefront of the room. “Can I have someone to the front please? I would like to file a complaint.”

“Unitologists believe that one day all mankind will be united through the power of a sacred artifact known as the Marker.”

“Not if I can help it.”

“We call this process Convergence.”

“It’s working out pretty well for you guys uh?” The teen had taken to rummaging through the desk for items as he argued with the prerecorded message.

“Imagine it.”

“Pfft don’t need to.”

“All mankind, brought together. With one purpose. With one mind. With one soul. No war. No fear. No hate.”

“Of course not. Everyone’s dead and zombified. Nothing says world peace like zombification.”

“If that sounds like an ideal world to you,”

“It really doesn’t.”

“then look no further. Convergence is coming.”

“I’d say it’s here.”

“And Unitology…is helping it happen.”

“Yeah, no shit.” Finding nothing of interest except a pack of gum, to which Richard helped himself to, he moved down the hall.

Posters filled the dimly lit hall with motivational messages about the group. Dick sneered at them as he passed. Glass separated smaller rooms with desks from the main foyer. Toward the end of the corridor was a window that held a view of the city.

The message on the speakers looped on repeat as a series of inhuman screams pierced the air. Richard watched as the vents in the room broke and a large group necromorphs gathered at the end of the hall. Slashers, Infectors, Hunters and even a few of the new Pact were all making their way into the room. 

Dick watched as they all organized themselves for an attack. Just as they all were to charge, elongated limbs and bone and visible muscle, Richard aimed his cutter, smiled and shot. The bolt flew past the army of dead and made a direct hit on the glass behind them.

The shattering sound was accompanied with the harsh force of air being sucked violently from the room. The teen laughed breathlessly as he was swept off his feet toward the emptiness of space.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yup


	10. Trash Compactor

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Maintenance tunnel isn't so bad, little to no Necro's, and at least there's no sewage to wad through. Still given the current situation though, space doesn't seem that bad of a way to go. At least to Richard.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whew another update!
> 
> Trigger Warnings:  
> but you know, Dead Space, nothing here is nice.

Chapter 10: Trash Compactor

Sprawl, Titan

Waste Disposal

21:14 Hours

 

Dick was beginning to hate crawling through vents. His knees and elbows were bruised as he pushed himself along the confined space. Even with his petite frame the constant climbing into tight spots to get from point A to point B was wearing on him. Richard didn’t think he was capable of developing claustrophobia what with the dozens of other small spaces he’s needed to fit in before. However that might change here real soon. 

The boy grumbled and complained to himself, used his discomfort as another form of distraction from the fact that he came close to committing suicide. 

Again.

‘How long will this go on? How much worse can it get? Will I even feel anything if I pass in one of these fits?’ Richard struggled to clamp these thoughts out; it was hard to do without any form of entertainment. Although Dick wasn’t sure if the situation’s idea of entertainment was one he wanted to partake in right now.

Upon reflection, space doesn’t seem all that bad an idea. It was only seconds before he join the abominations in the vacuum that he shot the safety latch and sealed the room. His face kissed the metal door and he found himself once again on his back relishing in the pain that meant he was alive. The busting sound of air reentering the room was the only thing making noise. Richard had lain on the ground for a few minutes coming to terms with the fact, as new air was introduced, that he was okay with being blown into space. There were worse ways to go. Better than the alternative. 

Dick had gotten up and watched from another window as disfigured bodies floated outside, twitching at random. He nodded. Yeah, space is a lot better than the alternative. 

Now Richard pulled himself from the maintenance tunnel and landed on the ground in a less than graceful way. His muscles burned and his joints felt torn, and his face was on fire but he picked himself up and got into defensive position. Muscle memory placing his back to the walls. 

Brown. That was the only thing that came to mind as Dick looked around. Brown. Brown walls, brown floors, even the flickering lights gave off a brown light. The area was muggy and humid, smoke filled the narrow space. It even smelled like the color brown. Richard grimaced. 

‘Didn’t think it was possible for brown to have a taste, but there it is.’

This was a maintenance area alright, not pretty to look at and definitely not a place you would visit willingly unless it was for a paycheck. His boots gave a loud clank as the boy advanced into the room. The sound echoed, with how much noise he was making Dick was surprised nothing came to investigate yet. Further in a corpse was sat on top of a small table. 

It looked fresh. Blood poured from a deep laceration on his side. Pinned to the wall opposite was a Slasher held off the ground with one of its own appendage. Richard looked back and forth at the two unlikely occupants. ‘This guy didn’t go down without a fight.’

Stepping closer to the dead man Richard considered looting his body for any weapons or ammo. Just as he got within reach however a video feed turned on. Dick was glad for the solitude if only that no one saw his amazing impersonation of a car alarm. ‘Motion detection’, Richard thought after his breath returned to normal. The man sitting in his own blood now had a recorded version of himself speaking his last words.

“Okay. Whoever sees this, listen up.” The individual gave no introductions and Dick watched silently, giving the deceased his undivided attention. “You can use the kinesis mode in your suits to pull the blades off dead ones, and shoot it back at them, watch.”

‘He had an accent, when he was alive.’

The man looked away from the monitor and activated the device on his wrist. A bone from one of the monsters levitated toward him. The man looked back as he addressed the camera again. “I’ve stayed alive three hours using this trick.”

Richard observed the man as he waited for something to round the corner. “Three hours,” Dick muttered. “He survived three hours on his own before they got him.”

The boy blinked when the man shot the appendage forward and pinned the Slasher to the wall behind it. Richard didn’t even hear the thing coming. The boy’s eyes glowed with interest and awe. He had never thought to use the kinesis like that, it was brilliant.

“You see?” The man was breathless and faltering, unable to keep his arm up. “Just- just shoot it back at them. Uh.” He turned back and faced the screen, his face was pale and he was shaking, a resigned appearance in his shoulders and tired eyes. “I’m going to bleed out soon. I got clipped pretty badly earlier. So I hope this helps you out, whoever you are.”

The screen went dark. Dick stood there for a moment, thinking. Reviewing the helpful tip the dying man had given him. To anyone who may have come this way before him or after. He died, just like so many others before him. And just like so many others he left what little information he thought would help another in need of it. A message, given through sacrifice, designed to give another a fighting chance at life.

The boy had seen it before. Warning messages written in blood on the walls, panicked audio logs found in deserted halls, and now a video message lying next to the recorder’s body. All of these attempts to help another unknown party left Dick with a small bit of hope. The Marker never touched them. Their last moments in this life dedicated to humanity and someone they will never meet. 

Richard stared at the body. The corpse was slumped; chin resting on his chest, eyes closed. He could pass for sleeping if not for the blood. Dick nodded his thanks lifted his cutter and shot at the base of the neck. It wasn’t much but it would assure the man wasn’t brought back as something……unrecognizable.

Men and women like them deserved to rest in peace and that was all he could offer at this point. At an attempt to honor the dead man further Richard arranged his body on the floor and placed the decapitated head back on his shoulders. It looked unnatural but there wasn’t anything he could do about it. 

‘His heads crooked. Wonder what he would have been.’

“If he had changed then I wouldn’t even know it was him who left the message.”

‘Yeah. Still curious though, have to admit.’ 

A name tag on the man’s chest said Micah. Dick pulled the tag off and stuck it in his pocket. “Rest in peace Micah.”

‘Or pieces’

“Not funny” 

He left the corpse and headed for the door on the other side of the room, with a sign over head that read ‘Zero G Garbage Compactor, Warning Extreme Danger’. That was his destination. The outer door opened to another air tight circular door. But when Richard tried to open the magnetic seal it wouldn’t budge. The boy was tempted to shoot the damned thing. 

“Of course not, that would be too easy.” The teen growled. “Of course there has to be another button or switch away from the door, because why the hell not.”

Stomping out again and into the room with the corpse Dick turned and went up a nearby ramp instead. It lead to an ‘Authorized Personnel Only’ Control room.

“Who the hell else would be down here willingly if not authorized personnel?” Richard needed someone to snark with. This talking to himself was going to get him into trouble. 

The room inside was circular, the large window that took up the entire far wall showed the process of cubed garbage floating to the middle of the room and being smashed into oblivion by a large machine. Holographs not unlike that of his own hacking tool shined blue and orange along the glass awaiting instructions, most likely from the individual slumped on the other side of the room.

It was a matter of seconds before Dick found the proper control to turn the machine off. 

“Diagnostic mode initiated for Waste Compression Chamber 752. Compressor piston offline. It is now safe to enter the chamber. Authorized personnel only.” A robotic female voice sounded over head giving Richard the information he already knew.

“Yeah, Thanks.” The boy nodded his head to the ceiling.

There were lockers in the back that he rummaged through. Turning up more ammo and another plasma cutter, Richard left the room with a skip in his step. Inventory stocked, new weapon in hand and a new tip that would hopefully save him the newly found ammo, the boy was ready to head into hell.

Just as he turned the corner of the ramp the vent over head blew open. The thing that fell out didn’t even look human ‘Do any of them look human’. It landed face first from the ceiling and slowly staggered up; Dick froze as he observed the thing in front of him. Another unknown mutation and it was grotesque.

“God, I really need to stop trying to find the silver lining in this f#cking place.”

It had no eyes, or a face for that matter just a gaping hole where it should have been. The lower jaw was missing, not entirely uncommon, but its whole torso was split from the chin down. What was left of the flesh on its body and head was melted and the original human legs were merged together. Additional muscle, nerves and what could only be intestines had somehow grown to form an additional leg. The lungs were visible on its torso, inflating and deflating with each breath it took. They were filled and leaking a fowl smelling liquid. It heaved and choked on the air. 

Robin narrowly missed having his face coved in whatever it was that took residence in its lungs. The fluid hit the wall and immediately began to eat away at the metal. 

“Holy Shit!”

The boy backtracked and had to maneuver quickly to avoid the toxic chemical that was shooting from the thing’s face. It wasn’t fast but the rate at which it was, for lack of a better word, puking its corrosive acid was not something to underestimate. The corridor was soon filled with the bile, eroding away the floor and walls. The smell and smog made Robin dizzy. 

Having been backed into the far wall with no other choice, the vigilante ran toward the threat stepping in the sick that began to stick to his shoes. Instead of being slippery like the boy had first thought it was like paste, fixing him to the ground as it began to rust the armor of the boots.

“Awe shit, shit, shit, shit, shit.”

Richard had to struggle to move his legs and get out of the mess. It was like walking through molasses. The vomit stuck but failed to glue him fully to the floor and it was a matter of time before he was able to finally clear the ramp. Unfortunately while Robin was distracted, the monstrosity was able to get close enough to latch onto the scruff of his suit. The force of the pull sent the boy to his knees. Talons grabbed hold of his head digging the digits into his skin and forced his neck up. Any faster and the thrust would have snapped his neck like a twig.  
Apprehended Richard watched as the monstrosity gagged and choked more of the acidic bile up its throat. The sight of the visible sick making its way up its esophagus held Dick in captivated fascination. Muscle contorted, burned and melted as the fluid passed, the smell was doing hell to the boy’s senses, but it was impossible to look away. 

‘MOVE DAMNIT!’ 

Inner workings and basic survival instant went into overdrive when the vomit finally found its way out. It all passed in slow-motion. Clicking the kinesis mode on his wrist Robin launched the appendage that was stuck to the wall through the thing’s head. Jerking his own head away from the spray of deadly chemicals, Robin was able to roll out of the necro’s grasp as it stumbled away.

“Sorry, but I don’t plan on competing against Two-Face in extreme chemical makeovers.” The Puker, ‘Okay Dick you can be more creative than that’, turned to face the boy, snarling and choking with the blade penetrating its head. Using kinesis again, Robin pulled the Slasher’s limb free and threw it back again completely severing the legs from beneath it.

It thrashed and clawed at the ground as its own sick began to eat away at the exposed muscle. It had eventually still, but the aroma it released when its lungs collapsed nearly sent the boy to the floor. The whole room filled with the scent. Coupled with the humidity and lack of fresh air the toxic gas was as visible as scarecrow’s chemical weapon. 

Tears blurred Richard’s eyes and his lungs screamed refusing to take in oxygen. Dick staggered toward the ‘Zero Gravity Chamber’ in hopes of finding a breathable space. The circular door opened with no problem and its closing allowed the boy to cough the fowl taste from his mouth.

‘Entering Zero-Gravity’ 

“Note to self. In future encounters don’t allow the damn Pucker things to make a mess then die in their own filth.” Shaking his head to extract whatever remained in his nose Richard chastised himself. “Pucker. God I sound like I’m in Left 4 Dead. Here let me just name a monster after what they do. That’s brilliant, well done mister Grayson. Truly a bright mind we have right here.” 

Dick stomped as the magnets in his soles kept him on solid ground in the midst of floating garbage, arms waving as he continued his one man conversation. “Can you imagine the amount of shit I’ll get from Wally if he finds out my names for these things?”

“Gee, Dicky bird that the best you can come up with I mean really?”

“Well I’d like to see you come up with something better smart guy.”

“Anything is better than Pucker.”

“Enlighten me then.”

“I know. Something scientific, since I’m super smart about anything sciency. Maybe I’ll give it a name of an element on the periodic table.”

“That’s super lame man.”

“Better than Pucker.”

Richard dipped his voice doing his best to mock his best friend’s speech as he spoke back and forth to himself. Using body movements to match that of Wally’s as if the boy where right there himself. Dick stopped at the end of the ramp and stared at a drifting hunk of trash. The realization of what he had just been doing hit him like a truck.

“Wow…. I’m defiantly a solid candidate for Arkham.” 

Looking across the way Richard saw the door that he needed to take to get out of the room and leapt. Using compressed air in his suit and boots Dick glided slowly across the room. His lack of experience with Zero Gravity found Richard reaching the other side upside down and struggling to right himself again. 

“Shit, this is embarrassing. Megan makes it look so easy. Maybe I can ask for lessons or something.”

The lack of gravity made the boy feel motion sick and wasn’t helping the small pressure in his head he’s had since the tram. Flailing his arms in circular motions and attempting to steer the compressed air had Dick land softly on the platform on his back. Dick grabbed the grated floors to keep himself from going air born again and flipped himself over to lie on his stomach. 

“Alright I got this. Yeah.” Instead of standing up however, Richard used his hands to pull himself to toward the door. 

Once inside a long window gave a view of a cylinder tunnel and roader. “There’s my way into the Cassini Apartments.” A terminal on the other side of the hall held the controls for the sanitation system. The simple act of pressing a button activated the chamber and sent the roader to the far end. 

The new door that opened in the Z-Gravity room would allow the boy to access the ventilation shaft that led to the tower. The fan that pushed garbage into the other room was loud and was spinning so fast the air was visible.

Stepping back into the other room, Richard could already see trash start to fill it. Pushing off the ledge again, Dick steered himself toward the opening. He ended up passing through sideways this time. Unfortunately there was no time to really right himself as he was forced to dodge the giant clumps of compressed litter.

“This could be a fun game, waste evasion.” Richard smiled as his sideswiped another rubbish pile.

Reaching the end of the windblown tunnel Dick found the balcony that would lead him to the apartments. “Alright that wasn’t so bad.” Richard passed the door still sideways before gravity threw him to the ground.

“Whew, I think I’m getting better at this.” Dusting himself off Richard grabbed his weapons from his holsters and started forward. "Guess I'm lucky that vomit didn't completely ruin my boots."

The next room was pitch black. The noise level was still atrocious and the shape and design of the area reminded Dick eerily of the Ishimura’s engine room. “Not a lot of fond memories there.”

Using the light on his plasma cutters proceeded into the room. The dim glow of the space was offset by a dark green, made the area seem smaller than it probably was. 

Grates separated the room into parts and the far end had the lights flickering on and off. Coming closer the blood that cover the end wall was highlighted with each spasm of light. There was no body and a vent was broken through. Didn’t take a genius to figure out what happened. 

The next room was well lit. Upon spotting a sign for an elevator Richard rushed toward it, only to be stopped by what was in front of his way out. 

Bodies, a lot of them. The suits marked them as workers for the sanitation system. They were all crumpled and broken together, stacked on top of one another. Blood and gore coated the wall around them. None of their heads were attached. The markings on them weren’t that of a necro. They were cut open with a plasma cutter. 

Someone down here lost it, and they took everyone else down with them. It was a habit that Robin went into detective mode, using everything the bat taught him to uncover what happened.  


There wasn’t much of a fight. No one else had a cutter or any other weapon on them or in hand. The individuals furthest from the elevator are all slumped facing the exit. They were shot from behind. The men by the doors were facing away and had slid with their backs against the walls.

Robin stepped back and raised one plasma cutter attempting to recreate the scene. 

All of these men were waiting for the elevator; based on the color of the blood this was hours ago. Perhaps at the beginning stages of the infection? An alert was made to evacuate, judging by how they were all congregated by the elevator but with no real rush no one took it seriously. Just another day on the job. 

Someone lingered behind. Obviously not unarmed, attempting to carry a plasma cutter outside of its designated area. Someone had noticed. A male body further away from the door was facing exactly were Robin was now standing, a few feet from the wall. This person was trusted; the man had stepped close to them. He was confronting the individual, most likely questioning why they had the cutter, and it cost him his life. 

The first shot was taken and then they turned their attention to the rest by the elevator. The first few had not time to react still having their backs to the threat. The shots where in quick session giving no one a chance to realize what was going on until it was too late. None of the shots were clean, but the individual made sure to sever all of their heads and spinal cords.  


None of them would be coming back; this guy knew exactly what they were doing. Knew exactly what was going on. Whether it was because they were somehow involved, informed or sicken by the Marker that they knew what was coming. Murder, suicide didn’t happen this time as it has so many others. The assailant wasn’t among the dead in the room. There were blood soaked footprints on the floor between the bodies. Only one pair, no one else has been down here since the incident. 

The thought made Richard sad. No one knew what happened to these men. No one came looking for them when they failed to show up, assuming most likely that they were lost to the chaos that was happening to the colony. Dick wondered if perhaps they would have made it if one of their own had not lost their self to the influence of the Marker. 

With his investigation finished Robin could only conclude that the individual responsible had used the elevator and left their co-workers to rot. Now if this person was still alive remains to be seen. Some part of Richard hoped they were if only to try and get them help, the other half prayed they died quickly so he wouldn’t have to end another life in self-defense. It was a selfish request, not one Bruce would approve of.

Kill or be killed, there was no in-between in this place.

The elevator was silent, the walls somewhat rusted and the lights were unnaturally bright. There was no music to listen to, no signs to read and no voice from the speakers for him to argue with. In all this was the most boring elevator ride to date.

“That is a whole shit can load of nope right here.”

The narrow hall the doors opened to was dark, but the open room across was illuminated by dozens of candles that were fixated all over the shelves on the walls. It didn’t bode well and Richard was half tempted to just sit in the well lit boring elevator for the foreseeable future. 

“For the love of all that is holy, why? Why does this need to be here? Why is this a f#cking thing? Just huu.” Dick wanted to stomp his foot at the unfairness of it all. The soft chime that rang a tune down the halls echoed through the boys head. “God, it’s like I walked into a cliché horror movie, where everyone is screaming at me to not go in the door.”

Peeking his head around the corner and shining his light around the room on the other side of the hall, Dick saw the scrawling of odd symbols on the walls in white paint. A body was lying on the ground in what looked like a bathroom through an open door.

Richard groaned and slowly stepped out of the elevator. Closing the gap between himself and the room. It was small living space that contained only a small room and a bathroom. There was most likely a shared dining area everyone in the apartments could go to and eat. 

The whole space seemed cramped and closed in. Books were shelved on a good sized bookshelf; a full bed took up the other half of the room. There was a picture of a man of gold shadowed by the Marker’s image. A crude drawing of little stick figures holding hands was next to it drawn on the wall. Added to the Marker’s symbols filling the rest of the walls it was obvious who lived here. 

A single candle was lit in the middle of the bathroom floor with markings circling it. The body slumped over it. Richard backed out slowly, there was nothing for him here and the sooner he left the sooner he was out of the apartments that were clearly a housing ground for Unitologists.

Dick walked out and was stopped by the whispers that filled the air alongside the melody of chimes. Raising his Cutters, Richard used his flashlights to examine the halls. All the doors were closed, the monitors attached to show the inside all dead with static. Little candles set on the floor near each room. Designs on the wall were elaborate with the center forming into the relics symbol.

One other door was open and upon closer inspection held the exact same scene and the room before. Markings on the walls and a single candle lit in the middle of a circular message. The whole feel of the place had Richard on edge, his finger twitched on the trigger and the whispers had him jumping and glancing behind him at every turn. 

Dick could swear on his life he heard his name among the small voices. Something was calling out to him and he had a pretty good idea of who it was. 

“Don’t think about it. Just keep moving. It can’t hurt you if you don’t think about it.” The lie wasn’t helping, but it was all he could do at the moment. The complete lack of enemies and any other sound did nothing to ease his growing anxiety. 

The large door to enter the next hall was sealed shut. Magnetic locks stuck in place most likely do to the blackout Richard guessed had happened. It would explain the candles somewhat. All the other doors were locked down in the area and his only other option was the one open room to his right. “Oh god, this is not going to end well.” Swallowing his collecting spit, Dick entered the doorway.

The small entry that lead to the rest of the living space had a miniature Marker statuette sitting on a shelf. Richard was half tempted to push it off. Above it painted in red, ‘or blood’ ‘not helping’, read in symbols with the only legible word being survive.

It was the joined bedroom that had Dick falter in his movement. 

The lullaby that chimed across the outer halls was coming from this room. Horses made of light dance around in circles from a spinning lantern hanging from the ceiling. A small train set was set in the room, toys scattered around it and pictures taped to the walls. A twin sized bed with flower covers rested next to a little crib.

Instinct was screaming at Richard not to enter the room. To ‘turn around and find another route’. That something about this innocent children’s bedroom was ‘wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong turn back now, run away’. The boy’s knees were locked in place and his grip on his weapons tightened. 

However another compulsion was driving him to go it. Some sick part of his mind was curious at what possible dangers will present itself to him here. ‘Go in. She’s calling for you.’ The whispering of his name did sound as though it was coming from somewhere in the space. 

Without realizing it Dick entered and was suddenly struck with a sharp, agonizing pain in his temples. The horrid static and background screaming filled his ears so suddenly it sent the boy to the floor. One hand held to his eye, Richard felt the hair on the back of his neck stand to attention. 

He didn’t have to look up to see what was present in the room with him. He glanced toward her anyway. Her distorted voice was enough to make him ill and his ears feel as though they were bleeding. She was sitting on the little bed, legs tucked beneath her. She was rocking the crib and staring at him with nothing in her eye sockets but a bright light. 

“It hurts.” She moaned through a ruined jaw. “I don’t want to die. I want to stay with my baby. My little bird. It hurts so much.”

Dick forced his eyes closed and breathed hard through his nose to stop the tears that made their way to his eyes. He didn’t need to hear this, he didn’t want to. It was too much for his thin shoulders to bear. Richard shook and willed words past the lump in his throat.

“You are n-not my mama. My mama is dead, she’s….she’s gone. You are not here. You are not real.” Dick chanced his gaze toward her. She was gone, the room was silent. The music absent and the static was no longer present. 

Richard remained on the floor, struggling to clear his head. ‘I’m almost there just a little further.’ Taking in the little girls room Dick wished he had never stepped inside. The clear sight of blood that covered the bed and nearby wall, it was all over the crib. 

Richard had to look away only to turn his head to the opened bathroom door. Small sock covered feet lay limp in the doorway. Thin legs half cover in a pink blood stained dress. There was another smaller bundle next to it and Dick turned his head before his mind had time to process what it could have been. 

'Don't think about it. Don't think about it. Don't think about it.' The chant ran through his head as if it would erase the scene in front of him.

Getting a better view of the opposite side of the room wasn’t any better. Richard choked on a sob at the child’s scribbled messages in crayon on the walls. 

‘God keep us safe from monsters’

‘Help’

 

 

‘Mommy is sick’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Basically a point A to point B chapter, not much is going on. I think this is my longest chapter too. But the dead workers will be relevant later. 
> 
> Thanks for all you wonderful comments. I love you all!


	11. Take me to Church

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Richard never was one for religion. So long as they weren't cult looking to sacrificing the innocent people of Gotham, looking at you Ra's Al Ghul. However Dick is finding it increasingly hard to accept the amount of ignorance with in the Unitology Church. Given how these thing are drawn to anything dealing with the Marker, Richard just might need all the prayer he can get.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger Warnings.   
> But I think this far in you should be expecting this time of thing.
> 
> Good gosh I think I got this update thing down. Lets see if I can make it to three chapters in under thirty days. Here's another long chapter for you.

Chapter 11: Take me to Church

Sprawl, Titan

Outside the Church of Unitology

22:03 Hours

 

“In 2006, a geophysicist named Michael Altman made a discovery that would change history. Buried at the impact site of a crater near the Yucatan peninsula, he uncovered a divine alien presence- the Marker. The Marker spoke to Altman and revealed a plan that would unify mankind and lead them to a bright, new future.

By the millions, people set to colonize the galaxy flocked to hear more about the Marker and the unity it promised after Michael Altman told the world of his profound discovery. But there were those who felt threatened by Altman’s message. On March 15th 2013, Altman was assassinated and thus became the first Martyr for the church.

Altman’s followers mourned his death but found divine solace in his message of unity. They would not allow the truth to be silenced and formed the Church of Unitology to bring his teachings to the galaxy.

Today the Church of Unitology can be found everywhere in the known Universe. Its message is just as strong and relevant as the others back home. Billions of believers can be found across all social, economic, and cultural groups and more are joining every day.

Growing quickly from a small group of devout miners on Titan, the Titan Station Church of Unitology has flourished into a hub of Unitology worship, practice, and learning. It boasts one of the largest and most beautiful Churches in the Sol system and is often the site of the annual Unitology Enigma Symposium. 

As we await glorious Convergence, it is important to continue to nurture our relationship with the Marker and understand the future it is preparing for us. The Marker calls to all of us. It is our duty to approach it with an open heart and open mi…..”

The man’s calm voice exploded when Richard punched through the recorded box that held an odd picture to it. The glass projector bit shards into the armor plating on his hand as he stuck it again and again. 

“Open mind my ass.” The boy inhaled harshly, lungs working hard to circulate oxygen to his bloodstream and into his pounding heart. “How many people are dead because of your bullshit?”

Richard rubbed at his face, careful to avoid the bandage on his nose and cheek. 

‘Careful now, wouldn’t want to reopen a wound that needs stitches.’ 

‘Tell me something I don’t know.’

Dick wasn’t going to lie he was rattled. The apartments were horrid, a red tint was all there was in the candle lit rooms. ‘Who the hell thought it was a good idea to make the rooms look that red.’ As he made it out of the area Richard had his first encounter with Tiedemann’s men in hours; ‘Almost forgot about him’ via a gunship. 

They were quick to find him. Dick would have to find a way to take his rig off the grid. The small teen was easily able to dodge the search lights as the swept across the large common area. The large guns visible on the front and the sides of the ship were a bit intimidating to say the least.

“I understand I need to be put down but this is a bit overkill wouldn’t you think?”

‘Out of the pot and into the fire as they say.’

“Who says, I’ve never heard anyone use that, like ever.”

‘Says the kid who butchers the English language because it’s funny.’

“……got me there.”

Dick had managed to avoid detection but had walked into a wide hall bathed in a blue light and was filled with recorded history lessons on the religion responsible for this nightmare. It was curiosity and the need to calm his nerves that made him listen to what the voice had to say. It didn’t help.

‘Did you really expect it would?’

“No but can you blame me for needing a distraction and time to catch my breath?”

The information on Titan holding the largest and most decorated church was new, and it was just his luck that he would be taken to the Unitology capital of the galaxy after the Ishimura. If he ever got out of here and never saw another Marker image in his life it would be far too soon. 

Richard knew exactly where he was headed, as much as he tried to deny it. Leaving the area the opposite way he came in, Dick was greeted to a room with a dome ceiling with beautiful glass stained windows. The grey walls were accented nicely with golden statues carved in, and pictures of what Richard could only guess were priests set a glow to the darker room. The only thing that ruined the whole look of the entrance to this new building was a damned Marker sculpture sitting ten feet high right in the middle.

Dick wasn’t able to completely process where he was being lead when the glass walls shattered inward and the opposite wall was being torn through by bullets. The magnets in his boots kept Richard on the ground as the air was sucked from the room. Frantically accessing his rig the boy was able to find his helmet in the commands and it put itself together around his head.

A meter just by his face in the helmet let him know just how much oxygen he had left in the suit. But a lack of air was the least of his problems. Even without sound the sight of bullets rapidly destroying the room was frightening. The gunship had found him and as desperately as he wanted to retreat the way he came, Richard found himself charging forward toward the large church doors.

The entrance closed and sealed behind him and with air refilling the area Richard never felt more trapped. He disengaged his helmet and it folded back into his suit.

It was dead quiet. Not a sound to be heard. The lights were nonexistent but for the wax candles melting on the floor. ‘Where the hell did they even find this many candles?’ The gate in front of him cutting off the next room made the boy feel as though he were in some kind of fancy cell. Small details carved and painted in the walls would have been lovely to look at, were they not all Marker symbols. 

“Daina? Why am I in a Church? Of all the places to lead me why am I in the f#cking Church of Unitology?” Richard could hear his voice shaking as he took in the room. The surrounding area and the stress of it all was threatening Dick with a nervous breakdown. 

“It’s one of the few places on Titan Station the Tiedemann can’t monitor. Separation of Church and State.” Daina must have heard the tremor in his voice, she spoke quietly and calmly to   
hold his attention on her words.

“No, no, no. Daina, we shouldn’t be in here. This is the last place we want to be right now. These things-” The boy’s voice raised an octave as he spoke, panic lacing his words. 

Daina cut him off, she sounded pissed. “Richard damn you, my brother died trying to get you out, the least you can do it make it the rest of the way yourself.”

The words felt like a sucker punch to the ribs. Dick grabbed at his chest in anxiety and guilt. “The informant from before…..he was your brother.”

The woman on the other side of the line breathed deeply. Richard could hear her trying to compose herself enough to speak. “This is important, it will work. It has too. I’m in a safe room at the top of the Church. I’m not too far off, please hurry. The sooner you’re here the sooner we can get out of here and find a way to stop this.”

“And find Stross, right?”

“Meet me there, okay?”

The call disconnected. Richard didn’t bother calling her out on her evasion on Nolan. Her brother was dead because of him. ‘God, it’s no wonder she’s been so short with me the past few hours. Why she’s so determined to get me out.’

Pushing aside his crippling fear of the decorated walls around him, Richard used the guide and followed it around the church’s corridors. Traveling through the gift shop and making his way toward the reading room.

The feeling of dread that formed a pit in the boy’s stomach with each step he took inside the death trap had him on edge. It was way to quiet. Richard knew these things were drawn to anything involving the Marker like Bane to Venom, and Dick lost count of how many Marker replicas he’s past in the last five minutes alone. A Church of Unitology should have had these things swarming the area by now.

The holo feed opened on his rig with an incoming call. The sudden sound of it terrified the shit out of the boy and he shot the wall on accident. Nolan’s angular face came in to close to the screen. Richard had to stop himself from glaring to hard at the man, least he scares the other off.

“Little bird? Little bird. I know you see the symbols too.” The man sounded out of breath and just like before glanced behind him at odd intervals. “They mean something, and you know what it does. Just like me.”

“Nolan,” Dick licked his dried lips and discreetly tried to trace the call. “Yeah, I see them. But only during hallucinations.” 

The older man continued like he didn’t even hear him. “We’re a threat to them. I know it. That’s why they want us dead. Cause we can stop this. We have to work together!”

“Alright, I agree. Tell me where you are Nolan and I’ll come find you.” Dick spoke slowly hoping to get through to the disoriented man. Then the other’s nose started bleeding, Richard felt sick.

“…..oh, my nose is bleeding? When did that start?…uhhh.” Nolan rubbed at his face, smearing crimson all over the top of his lip. He squeezed his eyes shut and clutched at his head and walked away from the screen.

“Wait Nolan, Mister Stross! Tell me where you are? Who’s them? I’ll come find you right now. It’s Tiedemann you talking about right, is he after you? Nolan? Work with me here, just talk to me!” 

The line cut off and Dick knew it would be pointless to try and call back. The boy was left along again. Richard punched the nearest wall in frustration and while the surface did little more than crack beneath his fist it made him feel better. A little.

The boy continued his exploration of the Church. Part of him wanted to find as much incriminating evidence against the religion as possible, the other half wanted to get the hell out of here.  
A small text log under his foot in a small office gave his detective half what it wanted. 

‘TOUR STAFF: Attention: Tour guide staff. Please remember to keep all visitors in your sight at all times. The indoctrination centers are strictly off limits to the casual public. Remember, be the light in the room for those who walk in darkness.’

“That sure is convenient.”

‘What do you think it is the Church doesn’t want the public to see?’

“Only one way to find out.”

‘Oh we’re snooping again, I like it.’

“Maybe find something that will prevent this from happening again.”

‘Won’t find it standing here.’

Placing the log in his inventory, Robin gave himself another side mission. 

Find what the Unitologist Church is hiding and expose it.

‘Good plan.’

 

There were bodies everywhere. They were laid out on the ground, arms folded neatly on their chest and a small white sheet covering their faces. The circular placements of the symbols covered the floors. It looked like the living spaces on the Ishimura. 

Richard made sure they wouldn’t be able to follow him later. 

Climbing up a fancy stair case and to the upper floors where a sign with a recorded message sat in front of an open door. Dick was beginning to become annoyed with his own curiosity. 

“Welcome to the Unity Hall.” It was the same calm voice from the history lessons. “This magnificent library holds copies of the Church’s most sacred text and is a regular meeting place for the Unitology scholars as they debate the glorious mysteries of the Black Marker. Notice the intricate details of the stained glass roof, forged from the hand-filtered sand of Titan itself.”

Dick pushed the sign over in a petty attempt at revenge. “Maybe you guys should have had someone test the thing for radioactivity first.”

The room beyond the door had floor to roof bookshelves. Papers were scattered across the red carpet and more candles near the edge. 

“That’s a fire hazard.”

‘I think that is the least of their current problems.’

Indeed, looking over the railing to the floor below Dick got a lovely sight of an infector bringing more of its creations to the living world.

“Shit!” The amount of bodies lying untouched on the floor would give the damn thing an army in less than a minute. Robin vaulted over the side and landed in a roll. 

Three of the several corpses were already staggering up to their feet. So far only Slashers were made. ‘That’s okay; we can deal with a few Slashers, no problem.’ Unfortunately with each threat the boy took down another took its place. The necromorphs coming at him may be the immediate danger, but killing them wasn’t taking out the source of the problem. He was running out of ammo.

Sliding and dodging the attacks made at him Robin charged toward the little shit cause his strife. It was currently latched onto another corpse but just before it could begin its disgusting process the boy jumped and drop kicked it off with the heel of his boots.

The abomination screamed in rage as it skidded across the floor. The young vigilante slid on his side to match its pace. Using the kinesis and one of his plasma guns, Robin shot the arm off of one of the Slashers, spun and sent the appendage soaring through the air and pinned the smaller necro to the wall where it thrashed against the restraint. 

With the trouble maker out of the way, it was easy to do away with the rest of the monsters in the room. He was just lucky it wasn’t anything else but the average Slasher. The corpses meet the same fate as their mutated brothers and sisters and were dismembered so they wouldn’t cause future stress. 

With the chaos over, Richard could really look around the room. The bodies that were here were placed around the area oddly. Wrappings covered their faces just as before, but the way the room was arranged and them with it made it seem as though they were set up as a sort of sacrifice. 

It didn’t sit right with him.

The infector still thrashing and screaming at him on the wall brought the boy out of his musings. ‘We should leave it there. Let it die alone. Slowly’

“It’s already dead. Leaving it would only give it a chance to get out. I don’t know how these things think, but I’d rather not have an infector out there with a ton of dead bodies and a grudge.” Richard finished the squirming necro off with one shot. 

‘Buzz kill’ 

“Better than being killed.” 

The lift in the center of the Hall quickly took the boy to the next level and right to a door into a testing center. INDOCTRINATION: session in progress, was all the top of the door said.

‘Look at what we found.’

“Time to get indoctrinated.”

'That was terrible.'

"Shut up." 

The indoctrination room turned out to be a simple room with a large window and a small row of chairs set up in front of a projection. The voice coming from the images on the screen was just the lady Dick argued with in the elevator. 

“Awe so we meet again. You’re still not very convincing about the whole peace thing. But I guess we all have our faults.” Richard shrugged his shoulders. 

There were two other doors to go through. The first housed a room filled with computers and seats in front of them. It looked like a testing room, something someone would go into answer trivia questions. Dick figured what with the Unitology being a religious cult it was more sinister than that. Unfortunately the computers didn’t seem to be functioning and he didn’t have the time to fool around with them and investigate.

The next door was clearly malfunctioning. It opened and slammed shut and opened again, with a loud bang each time it made contact. With nowhere else to go Richard crouched low and waited, watching the doors pattern. After a few seconds the boy bolted from his spot on the floor and rolled under the door just before it took his head off.

No sooner did he get through the screaming started. Dick stayed knelt on the floor clutching at his ears. The world glitches in his vision, sending symbols alternating across his view, monitors placed all across the room flashed with such intensity the boy thought he might seizure from it all. Richard bit the inside of his cheek to try and keep himself in reality.

“I’m so cold, baby bird. It hurts. Where are you going?” The boy’s mother was sweet and saddened. Her dead face and empty eyes stared at him through the screens, surrounding him with her gaze. “Are you- are you trying to leave me?” The accusations made Richard curl into himself a bit more. The phantom’s voice grew cruel and she hissed at him, words burning him in terror. “My baby bird, you can’t run from the pain forever. Soon you’ll beg for a way to end it all. And I’ll be here for you, always here.” 

And just like every time before, it was over. So quickly Dick had to wonder if anything had happened at all. Not wanting to risk letting his guard down Richard stood slowly and only uncovered his ears after a few minutes. The woman’s voice on the projector in the other room was the only sound to be heard. The door was sealed shut behind him.

Richard swallowed and grabbed at his chest. She was becoming more aggressive. She was never this hostile before on the Ishimura, always gentle and loving towards him. Even as he tried to hang himself with a power cord, kindly egging him on to be with her and his father again.

As much as it shouldn’t, her words hurt. He wasn’t running from her because he didn’t love her. It was because she was gone, and the thing that took her place in his memory was corrupted by his own head and the Marker. ‘That thing isn’t mama. It’s not mama.’ The manta replayed in the boy’s head until the guilt he felt at her words lightened, if only just. 

With the rooms and monitors no longer haunted by his visions, Richard saw the room with the testing computers from security cameras. 

‘They were watching them.’ 

‘Why, what’s the point in that?’ 

‘Recruitment maybe?’ 

‘It’s a possibility.’ 

‘No time to find out either.’ 

‘Later then.’

The only way out was another maintenance tunnel. Dick wanted to pound his skull against a wall. “Are you flipping serious right now? How many of these things am I going to have to go through?” 

Moaning at the ceiling and punching coding into his rig to hack the damned door a little too hard, Richard lifted himself in and began crawling. The small space was pitch black, the only light coming from his rig. Blessedly it was a short crawl.

The exit was a homing beacon of light and Richard didn’t hesitate to pull himself out. Closing the access doors behind him and turned.

 

She was so close to his face their noses were touching. The smile on her face was a thing of nightmares and her eyes glowed white, threatening to blind him. In his initial shock Dick backed up only to hit the wall behind him, dropping his cutters in the process. The boy wasn’t able to draw in breath, his lungs burned with the need to scream but it was as if she seized his voice.   
Richard just barely caught her arms. One hand latched onto his throat immediately cutting off his air supply, she squeezed. But the thing that held his attention was the syringe needle she held in her other hand. She was bigger than him and the lack of oxygen was beginning to darken his vision but the needle was close, Richard could practically feel it gently touch his pupil. He held her back ignoring her hand on his neck and used all his strength to keep the syringe from puncturing his eye. 

The last thing Dick needed was to be blinded, if the needle didn’t reach his brain first.

“MAKE US WHOLE.”

She whispered, broken jaw never moving. 

Richard was unable to hold both their collective weight. The tumble to the floor almost allowed the needle threw his skull. A sob echoed from his closed wind pipe, bottom lip trembled and arms lost their strength slowly allowing the object closer.

Dick had to close his eyes. He didn’t want to see or hear what the Marker did to the image he held of his mother. Her long reddish hair framed his head, such pretty hair he remembered brushing with her favorite brush. This was the closest he’s been to her in five years, and he was terrified. 

“MAKE US WHOLE.”

The weight was gone, his throat opened and he was no longer struggling to hold up a dead woman. Instead when Richard opened his eyes the needle was being held just above his eyelid by himself. Dick screamed himself hoarse as he threw the syringe across the room and scrambled into a sitting position in the corner. 

The boy clawed at his throat and rocked himself back and forth. It was happening again, only this time she didn’t gently coax him into doing it. She initiated it, determined to finally end his life with his own hand. Richard could feel the phantom pain of bruises around his neck that would never show. His tongue stuck to the roof of his mouth and Dick noted with disdain that he had pissed himself during the confrontation.

Richard felt shame and discouragement, choosing instead to sit and hold his head in his hands. The suit was designed to the fact that it is impossible to hold your bladder in a zero gravity situation given you can’t feel it. The fact didn’t make him feel better. 

‘My nose is bleeding.’ That was the only thing Dick could think of after minutes of staring at his hands. He hadn’t even noticed the cut across his face opened again. Everything felt sore, his ribs, his back, his head spun. Richard was a mess and he could bet that he looked worse than he did before. He sure felt it.

‘Get up.’

……

‘It’s just a little further.’

……

‘Daina is waiting for us, come on now.’

……

‘We can go home soon.’

“I don’t want to go home.”

‘Why not.’

“I’m tired.”

‘That’s not a good excuse. Let’s go.’

“No.”

‘Bruce is coming.’

“No, he’s not.” Saying it out loud made the boy's voice break.

‘You don’t know that.’

“He’s not waiting and he’s not coming. Besides I don’t want to see him anymore.”

‘What about Wally, and Roy?’

“No”

‘Alfred?’

“No”

‘Why?’

“Because I’m not me anymore. I haven’t been me for a while. It’s better right? For them to remember me from before.”

‘You’re being self centered’

“I’m tired.” 

‘……doesn't change the fact we still have a mission to finish.’

……

‘Mission Objective: Find and destroy the Marker…. Secondary Mission: Locate and protect Nolan Stross….Optional Objective: Discover evidence against the Church and prevent another Marker being built.’

……

‘On your feet solider, the job isn’t done yet.’

“….It’s hard.”

…..

‘It was never supposed to be easy.’ 

Richard blinked.

Tearing his bottom lip with his teeth, Dick used the wall to slowly bring himself to his feet. There was no motivation in him to continue but sitting here and waiting to die would just hurt Daina and the other civilians who were trapped in this nightmare with him. They didn’t deserve this. Nolan didn’t. Daina didn’t. She had already lost her brother it wasn’t fare of him to sit down and give up.

She and Nolan didn’t know who he was before this, even if Daina knew his secret, there wasn’t any real expectation from them other than surviving. He would do this. He would survive. Even if it was only until he got them out. 

The room he was in must have belonged to a higher priest. It was decorated with wall covered bookshelves. A nice desk and a chair, a little too fancy for someone not important, was in the middle of the area. A good sized office, not a bad place to have a nervous breakdown, there were worse places.

Dick limped to the exit. His gait made from stiffness and an uncomfortable wetness on his legs. The boy made sure to pick up his forgotten plasma cutter from the floor. He was gonna have to glue the damned things to his hand at this rate. 

The area outside the office was beautiful, if you could ignore the blood that painted the blue room red. He was on a second floor balcony, and the ground below him held the foundation to four gracefully crafted women in the center of the room holding a ball. A blue light came from the top highlighting the softened features of the statues. They were likely representations of angles, if the surrounding statues of praying men along the balconies were any indication. The whole room was stunning.

Until an unfamiliar screech echoed through the room. 

‘MotherFu….’

“A new enemy. How different is this new Marker that it’s causing such mutations?”

There were many odd alterations on the Ishimura, many of which the boy’s already seen here but these new threats….. They were getting smarter, baiting then swarming in pacts. While they did it often on the old ship, there was something about these new mutations that seemed more menacing. More knowing. 

A small lift let Richard access the bottom floor. Keeping his back toward the wall he semi circled the room. The exit he saw was on the other side of the large statues. He would have to cross the center of the room to reach it. 

The shrikes and chirps sounded like a wounded animal. The thought stopped the boy for a moment. 

‘Were there animals on this station? Could the mutation reach them as well?’

Robin tensed and slowly worked his way into the room. Plasma cutters held out in front, eyes searching every corner and ears listening for the slightest off putting noise. The chirping was echoing along the tall ceiling making it hard to pin point the exact location it was coming from. There were blood written messages at the base of the statues but Robin was too preoccupied trying to find the new threat to read it. 

Richard was surprised he made it to the other side without conflict. Still not one to take chances, Dick turned and backed his way to the door. It was quiet. Either the threat left or it was watching him. The feeling of eyes on him made the boy swallow hard. 

The door was clear and Richard was home free. 

Then something on the other side busted the door inward. The sheik of metal bending in was nails on a chalkboard and the sound the thing made on the other side made the boy’s head throb. Whatever was over there, it was big.

That was his way out. 

“Daina I’m locked out.” Dick could only stare dumbly at the broken door, breathing shallow on the thought of what was in there. “There’s…something….something in the church. It broke the door.”

The woman on the other line didn’t seem fazed by the news. ‘Of course she’s not. She’s not out here with it.’ 

‘Not the time to be bitter about it.’

“Hang on. I’ll try to override all the gates in the area.” Her voice was almost drowned out but the chirping that sounded once again.

“Hurry, there’s something in here with me too.” Richard whispered, backing up till he hit the broken door.

Moments later the gates on both sides opened. He wasn’t able to move toward either when the thing staking him poked its head round one of the statues’ base. Richard was temporarily horrified at what stared back at him. 

The massive, three pronged head didn’t even have eyes to stare at him with. The shape of the skull was didn’t match any form of human bone structure, it looked more like a velociraptor, especially when it tilted its head to the side at him. Its gums and teeth were all there exposed and frozen in a permanent grin. The spinal column was arched out and looked thicker than any other necro he’s seen. The talons that reached out and grabbed the side of the foundation it was hiding behind were larger than Dick’s arm. 

The thing actually f#cking chirped at him, glued smile showing off human teeth in a monster’s face.

Another one ran behind it, racing to another statue base. Dick startled and took his eyes off the one staring. 

That was mistake number one.

The small second Richard’s gaze was away from it, the bird like horror charged forward. Robin brought up his cutters and fired away at the thing coming at him with great speed. The blast from the plasma cutters did little. In fact it looked as if it did nothing at all. There was nothing to aim at. Limbs were tucked carefully behind its back and its lowered head shelter the legs. The head and spinal cord itself took the punishment of the weapons without flinching or slowing down.

“SHIT!” Robin had to roll to the side when it came seconds from hitting him, at the speed it was going and how hard the head was it would have easily broken his ribs. It was reflect that had Dick dropping one of his plasma cutters and using his free arm to flip himself out of the way. Instead of continuing forward in its rush the beast stopped short and swung it’s talons at the boy as he dodged its charge attack.

Dick screamed out.

The attack struck true, ripping through armor plating like tissue paper and the fragile skin beneath. The boy landed on his back and clutched the new laceration on his waist. Blood pooled in his hand, nothing vital was hit but had he been any closer at all there would be two of him on the ground. Using one arm and both his legs while he held to the fire on his side Dick scooted back. 

It followed his movements, head tilted to the side just watching as the young vigilante struggled back to his feet. Seeing it stand to its full height it was easily the size of Killer Croc. Its ribcage was open wide, like something inside blew it out. Chirping and clicking it walked toward the downed child, movements controlled, and calm. Richard choked, this thing wasn’t just smart. This thing was downright intelligent. While others would mindlessly go in for the kill using easy to follow strategies; this one was playing with him. 

The light from his flashlight as Richard raised it again reflected off of teeth and with mute horror Dick found its eyes. Tiny pinpricks sunken into its head that trail his every movement. If there was ever a monster to compare to Joker, this was it. 

Richard’s whole arm shook as he tried to aim straight. The creature reared back and then charged again. Its weight crushed the fallen cutter. Robin rolled onto his stomach and twisted himself away from the assault. It was a narrow miss but the action got the boy to his feet once more, even if his injury burned like hot steel. Gritting his teeth, and aiming at the offenders back Robin was able to sever its arm and leg.

The abomination went down with a terrible shriek. The boy didn’t let up on his shooting, plasma tearing the monster apart one limb at a time. It thrashed and squirmed on the floor, its cries of pain were answered with several other clicks and chirps. 

This thing had friends, and they were pissed. 

Somehow Richard found himself back in the middle of the room. The four statues surrounding him. Dick could catch just a glimpse of them running from cover to cover. It was hard to tell just how many of them were circling him. With the sound bouncing off the ceiling he couldn’t tell which one posed to attack first. One chirp alerted him to the right and he aimed and shot at the head peeking around the corner. 

That was mistake number two. 

Having been successfully distracted, Robin was unable to fully avoid the hit from behind. The force of the blow sent his small frame into the statue’s base. His previously injured shoulder clipped the side of it, and Dick was sure any harder would have torn it out again. His own blood covered the red message left from someone before.

They were using one another as bait, they’re playing cat and mouse with him. It was no wonder the whole room was colored with blood. They were learning. At least the newer mutations were. The thought scared him. He was barely making it with the mindless necros what was he going to do about the ones that could actually think and plan.

His rig activated suddenly, opening up a line. Oh, he did not need this right now. “Richard, I don’t think I can ope-“

“NOT NOW DAINA!” The line was silent then disconnected.

Dick hadn’t meant to scream at the woman. She was only trying to help, but he was stressed out, bleeding and pretty sure he wasn’t making it out of this fight alive. There were too many and far too well organized.

He needed to think, come up with a plan. There was no time. The chirping and seeing them dash around the room was making him dizzy. Richard wasn’t breathing, holding it in to try and starve off the nausea. He couldn’t focus. Lights were dancing in his vision.

‘Stop relying on your vision.’ Richard flinched. “Bruce?” 

‘There is more than one way to see. Don’t forget your training.’ Bruce’s deep voice and stern tone was the most soothing sound in the world, even if it was just in his head.  
Breathing deep, Richard closed his eyes. “More than one way to see.”

The noises the creatures made became shaper as he focused his hearing. There was a difference in their pitch and length. They were talking to each other, communicating. ‘Not the time to dwell on it.’ He heard their movements and steps as they were stalked around the thick bases. 

‘There are three of them. Same height and build as the other one.’ Gripping his cutter, Robin drew in a deep breath and waited.

He didn’t have to wait long. Coming at him from behind the creature charged and the boy ran with him straight at the closest sculpture. Planting his foot on the smooth edge, Robin ran vertically and leapt away from the structure. His attacker struck the rock, hard, creating cracks in the marble. In the mid of his bock flip Robin aimed his cutter and blew off as many limbs as he could. It fell to the floor the same time the boy landed.

The clicks got more aggressive around him. ‘These things are aware enough to forge attachments to each other.’ 

‘And you just took out two of their friends.’ 

"Not helping."

This time one of the Stalkers, ‘God’, cut the hide and seek act and charged without waiting for the boy to turn his back. Using kinesis Robin grabbed its fallen brother and launched the body at the challenger. The monster tripped and its launching speed caused the monstrosity to slide on the ground, its limbs sprawled as it attempted to gain balance. Robin used that as an opportunity to remove them. 

‘Three down, one to go.’ 

The clip in his cutter ran empty, and quite frankly Robin was surprised it didn’t happen sooner. His inventory was empty of ammo. He would have to find away to take this last one out without a gun. Speaking of the last one, it got really quiet. 

Richard had returned to the middle of the room. It could be hid behind any one of the statues. It wasn’t making a sound. If it wasn’t for the feeling of being watched sending his senses on high alert Dick would have thought it left. Holstering his cutter, Richard brought out his scalpel. 

‘What the hell is that gonna do?’

“Shut up.”

Richard tried to use the silence to come up with a strategy, and from the quiet that surrounded him the remaining threat was doing the same. Something told the boy these things won’t fall for the same ticks the other did. Dick could feel blood gluing his suit to places on his leg, it was uncomfortable. He could image his whole side was red by now. 

‘Stay focused.’

The clicking started again; it was coming from behind him. Richard swung around and brought his arms up. 

That was his third mistake.

There was nothing peeking at him from behind a corner. Instead there were quick footsteps coming from behind. Robin realized his error and swung back around and brought his arm up to block. The thick skull make contact and the resulting snap in the boys arm made him choke on his collecting spit.

‘Its voice. It threw its f#cking voice.’ 

‘Clever girl’

‘NOT HELPING!’

Richard was thrown to the floor with a cry. The boy gritted his teeth as pain seared his whole arm. He couldn’t move the limb and he knew through experience without needing to take the suit off that the bone was coming through the skin.

“Compound fracture, s-shit.”

This was bad; on top of the lacerations on his waste and face, now he could feel blood fill his glove. He was shaking with adrenalin and pain, his thoughts raced. He was screwed. Robin could hear it, just out of sight chirping at him. The boy could tell it was laughing. 

The creature waited until he was back on his feet to show itself again. It wasn’t even trying to hide anymore. It knew it had him beat. Richard bared his teeth at it, swaying where he stood holding his fore arm tightly. 

It knew already knew his tactics for them, it watched him take down the others and it adapted to it. He needed something new, something that would catch it off guard. Robin smiled.

The boy looked it in the eye showing it his blood stained teeth. The monster clicked and charged forward and Robin matched its movements. They meet in the middle of the room. Just before they collided Robin fell to his knees and used his momentum to slide inches from its skull. As soon as he was through its legs the boy turned and swung his scalpel and sliced through the Achilles heel

It dropped like a sack of rocks. Without the use of its legs the Stalker resorted to crawling toward the boy, and by the sound it was making it was beyond pissed. The kinesis mode seized one of its fallen brothers and Robin sent it down on top of the other. Again and again and again and again.

Richard was left gasping for air and what remained of the threat laid crushed under the weight of the other corpse. The room grew quiet once more and with nothing else attempting to take his head the boy let out a pained moan and sunk to the floor.

“Shit, shit, shit, shit.”

Dick had to carefully work his hand out of the glove and roll up the sleeve past the break. His whole fore arm was crimson and slick. There it was, white showing through all the red. It wasn’t bad or even the worst break he’s had, but he was alone and with no incoming aid. It needed to be cleaned and cast to avoid infection. Because running around with a fever was sure to lower his already nonexistent survival rate to the negatives. The cast would have to wait but he could get it sealed.

‘Wow this sucks’

“You don’t say. I was better off sulking in that office for a few hours.” Richard dug in his inventory for the first aid kit, which was already looking pretty sad from when he first found it. Taking out the gaze and wipes from the box he set to work.

‘Says you.’

While he worked Richard opened up his rig and called Daina. He figured she wouldn’t have called unless it was important, plus he needed to apologize. “Daina, you there?”

“Richard, I can’t unlock the elevator in the room.” Well she didn’t sound upset at being yelled at. “Can you do anything from your end?”

“Yeah, I’ll take care of it.” Dick finished wrapping up is arm as tightly as he could and injected the last of his aid syringes into the laceration on his side and wrapped that as well. It needed stitches but this was the best he could do at the moment at least he wouldn't lose anymore blood. For now.

“Alright the broken door was the only direct was to me so you’ll have to go the long way.”

“I feel like we’ve done this before.”

“Cute.”

“I try.”

“Are you alright, you sound terrible.”

“Just asterous. Where am I headed?”

“Okay, once you get the elevator open you’ll have to go through the Funerary wing of the church and down into the crypt.” 

Richard wanted to throw up. The last time he was in a morgue surrounded by dead people he had to fight off the captain and most of the risen crew. It was like walking through a graveyard in a zombie outbreak. “Is that the only option?”

“Unfortunately, now once your there it’s very important you’re not…”The whole rig began to malfunction. Dick could barely hear the woman over the static. “No, no, no. Shit, Earth gov can’t jam us in here. Not in here, we’re supposed to be safe…”

“Daina? Daina, important that I not what? Tell me what’s important.” The static eventually took over the whole line and dropped the call. When he tried the line wouldn’t even connect. The boy punched the wall with his good hand. “Don’t they have anything better to do than hunt me down and make my life harder.”

‘Nineteen dead.’

“I know damnit but I’m not even the most dangerous thing out here right now. What more harm could I possibly do?” Dick stomped toward the elevator and began working on the wires. Before long the elevator was back online and Richard was on his way to the funerary.

'Out of the pot...'

"...and into the fire." 

“Children of the Marker, we are gathered now to pay respect to the bodies of the dead, those who have been fortunate to be called ahead of us.”

Richard punched the wall again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So fighting the Stalkers in the game wasn't so bad but their information shows that they are probably the smartest out of all the necros, so I had to make this fight a bit more of a challenge.
> 
> The amount of praise I got for the last chapter was pretty great given I didn't even think it was good, but thank you all none the less for taking the time out of your day to read my work. 
> 
> Love you all.


	12. Frozen Cryptic Hearts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's bad enough walking through a maze of frozen corpses. It's worse when you mind is currently on the path to self destruction and your mother is leading the charge. Dick just wants and story, a nap, and maybe a hug.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the year Hiatus guys. 
> 
> Trigger Warnings

Chapter 12: Frozen Cryptic Hearts

Sprawl, Titan

Church of Unitology Crypt

23:00 Hours

Richard’s gloves stuck to the frost on the walls as he descended down the stairs. The process was slow. With thick condensation on each step and the feeling of being held together by mere skin and tendons, Dick was not making it anywhere fast. His present dependence for a vertical surface to keep upright wasn’t making it easier either. 

Limping through the funeral parlor was quiet enough; Richard was okay with quiet for a while. He even found a long scarf on one of the bodies in the room to make a makeshift sling for his arm. So all was not great, but it wasn’t too terrible.

‘That is the biggest load of bullshit I’ve heard out of you yet.’

“Shut it, can’t you see I’m trying to be positive here? You’re the asshole who told me I needed to keep going in the first place.”

‘Doesn’t mean you gotta be a blind optimistic.’

“Pfft, I’m the definition of blind optimism.” Richard hissed at himself through his teeth. Shadows were overtaking the staircase. “Why does every room in this damn place have to be so dark? You’d think they’d need it lit up nicely to avoid accidents.”

Every step down the stairs jolted something, causing spikes of pain to radiate from everywhere. The teen’s breath came in puffs and pants. He was folded in on himself to lessen the aggravation movement did to his abused ribs. The shaking from before hasn’t stopped and the space around him is swimming in his vision. 

The aid syringe isn’t doing much to help with the pain this time; it had barely resealed the injury on his face and side. A very thin layer of regrown skin and muscle cells were all that was coving the injury, nowhere near the amount of effect the syringes before that did. Dick could feel the lack of blood in his system and figured its stopped replacing the lost blood cells as well.

“Wonder what the side effects are for using those aids too often?”

‘Not good I imagine.’

Dick could only pray he doesn’t pass out from blood loss. 

The door at the end of the staircase opened to another room covered in more ice with fans on both sides of the wall. The entrance at the end of the small hall wasn’t promising of fun times and ice cream.

“A crypt, why does it always have to be a crypt or a morgue? Wasn’t the first time on the Ishimura enough? Why not just let me walk on the surface of the building till I get to the floor I need?”

‘Now who’s being pessimistic?’

“Quiet.”

‘You wouldn’t get far outside with that tear in your suit.’

Dick stopped in his journey to the other door and looked down at his side. The soiled bandage wrapping his waist was visible through the torn suit. The protective fabric frayed away and the metal plating sharp in some corners where it was broken. He’d be dead before he realized he was out in the vacuum. 

“Can’t argue with that.” 

The next door took longer to open, ice broke off the access point as it allowed entrance. Behind that was an extra door to keep the cold in. The second it opened Dick could feel the chilled air freeze his cheeks and nose. His breath came out in tuffs of white, and in front of him held pods of people frozen in an eternal peaceful sleep. 

“They freeze their dead here. Wouldn’t it be more convenient to just cremate everyone? Less storage space.”

‘You mean less possible enemies for you to deal with.’

“Well I wasn’t going to say anything but shit, fine, you got me.” The boy rolled his eyes and shimmed along the walls. “Gods above, this has got to be the worst idea I’ve had to date.”  
‘Quit your bitching and move before you freeze to death.’

“Yeah, cause out of all the ways to die on this f#@king station, freezing to death is defiantly number one on that list.” Dick had to rest his head against the wall and lean down to catch his breath again. The cold was making him shiver more than before and it wasn’t doing his injuries any favors. He tried not to think about how his vision was darkening more and more along the edges.

‘How bout we try not to die at all.’

“Dear god, you’re a genius. How did that never occur to me? Don’t die. I can’t believe I never thought of that before now. Clearly you have opened my eyes to the error of my ways. I’m going to live my life by that decree ‘try not to die’. It’s….. God, its brilliant.”

‘…..This is the exact reason why you don’t have very many friends at school.’

“F#@k you, I’m hilarious.” Richard huffed at the conversation he was having with himself. 

The crypt was not unlike a labyrinth, narrow halls that connected to little rooms; each holding dozens of frozen corpses along the walls. Every turn led to a new room, a new hall. Dick had to constantly refer back to his rig to ensure he was going the right way. The silence was eerie. And every moment something didn’t happen sent a deep seeded dread through the boy’s stomach. 

Something was coming.

Richard didn’t know what or when. Not a single sound could be heard apart from the fans and his own footsteps and breathing, but he knew. Peace was a short-lived luxury here, nothing stayed this calm for long without there being some sort of price. 

As a door opened revealing another maze of halls and rooms, Richard paid his due.

The misty room was thrown into a red, and white noise chaos so fast the boy couldn’t register what it was he was looking at. The silence suddenly pierced with a screaming so loud the noise didn’t make it to Richard’s ears until his back hit the wall. Movement came from the pods, rapid and spasmic in nature that the figures were blurred. 

Dick could only watch in muted horror as the lurching beings came more into focus. They were trapped in the broken pods, everything from the waist down fused with something fleshy into the compartments. Arms were held back leaving only their heads and torso to toss and turn. 

Richard closed his eyes and opened them in an attempt to keep from recognizing the thrashing corpses in the pods. But he saw. And he knew.

Knew his father’s, his aunt’s and uncle’s faces. He saw Wally’s hair and Connor’s build, he could point out the twitching figures of Artemis and Kaldur in the corner. Megan and Roy screeching on the other side. Uncle Oliver, uncle Clark, uncle Berry, aunt Diana, aunt Dinah, uncle John. All of them decayed and mutated but recognizable all the same in their uniforms. 

Dick couldn’t move from his position on the wall. Tears ran freely down his face and he couldn’t hear his own distraught voice over the noise. The screaming was too much, the movement was too much, the overload to his senses was too much. 

It was all too much. 

Too much. 

Too much.

Hands grabbed the boy’s shoulders. Large hands with flesh and muscle missing from the fingers. Dick followed the hands to the shoulders and finally met eye to eye with the man attached to them. 

Bruce was just as decayed as the rest of them. His skin was grey and his eyes vacant. There was the way he held his head up that suggested his neck was broken and his jaw was missing from his face. All the same, he screamed too. Right in the boy’s face did he scream. It sounded choked and painful. It sounded like death. 

Dick wrenched himself away from the wall and out of the monstrosities grip. He needed to find some form of exit. But the movement and flashing of the lights was making him nauseous and dizzy. 

Everywhere he turned was a familiar face shrieking for his attention. The boy was finding it harder to breath in his increasing panic. 

Richard tore his eyes ways from the madness in front of him and found his mother. She stood by the doorway at the other end of the room watching him as the figures on the walls continued to dance around her. The flashing lights framed her destroyed face and pronounced smile in a demonic glow. Her eyes sockets shined, her hair floated around her.

She didn’t move, didn’t speak. 

She just stood there watching. 

Waiting. 

Smiling. 

~

Dick blinked. 

His thoughts were sluggish, and his limbs felt like lead. 

The boy didn’t know how he ended up on the floor, but there he was. Laying in the middle of the room, with frost biting into his cheek, his tongue stuck to the roof of his mouth. Everything hurt, but he couldn’t remember why. 

There was a fire in his waist and arm that greatly contrasted with the cold of the room. It was all he could think about. His muscles ached, his head spun. 

He wanted to be held. 

He wanted to cry in pain. 

He wanted to scream in agony. 

He wanted Bruce.

There was someone talking.

It was low, it sounded far away. Dick tried to turn his head to find out where it was coming from but he found he didn’t have the energy to, his eyes wouldn’t focus. The person talking must has seen him move, they stopped. Richard thinks they might have asked a question. He didn’t respond and they resumed speaking like before.

It was quiet, calm, soothing. The voice made Dick want to go back to sleep but something was telling him that was a bad idea. That if he slept now he might not wake up again. 

That was a scary thought.

‘Is it though?’

So, he laid there, and listened. Dick wasn’t sure how long he rested before the words started to register to him. It was a woman talking. Moving his eyes Richard found an open video feed sitting a foot away from him. As his vison slowly became clearer he saw the woman inside the feed. Her blond hair was in braided buns and her face looked tired and stressed, but she spoke confidently.

She must have felt his eyes on her because she stopped again and stared back. She asked another question. Dick was finding it hard to understand with the stuffing in his ears so he simply blinked back. She looked frustrated, or was it worried. Dick couldn’t be sure. 

It wasn’t long till she started talking again. Richard realized she was trying to ground him. Bring him back into reality. So, the boy tried harder to listen to her words and piece together what she was saying. 

“… idiot yelled, ‘watch this’… swear to the … anytime anyone … words something stupid is …and sure enough … stupid happened.” 

Her voice was cutting in and out, but it was easy to put together that she was telling him a story. She wouldn’t look up from her hands, but Dick was sure the story was meant for him.

“He jumped… instead of the table … weight like he thought it would it … underneath him like I said it would. Broke his wrist, but … too busy laughing at him like everyone else to do anything about it. Should of seen the look on his face.” She smiled slightly then stopped. 

The woman looked up at him to find him staring but not reacting so she went on. “Another time, we were working on a project for our department and he thought it was a good idea to involve a cat in the presentation…”

Richard like the sound of her voice. It was helping, slowly, but everything was starting to come back to him. Her name was Daina Le Guin. She is helping him escape the station, Titan, they are both trapped on. The creatures from the Ishimura followed him here. Something is wrong with him, he’s hurt, he’s sick. He needs help. He needed to get to her.  
If anyone could help him it would be her.

There is still something missing though. Moving his face off the floor and rolling to his back Dick looks around the room. The pods remained intact. ‘why wouldn’t they be?’ Nothing was moving, nothing was screaming at him, nothing was watching him. 

Except maybe Daina.

Looking back to the woman on the screen he found her staring him with apprehension. 

“Richard? Can you hear me?” 

Dick blinked and nodded.

Daina sighed. “Okay, okay, good. That’s good. Do you remember me?” She spoke slowly making sure his attention stayed with her.

He nodded again.

“Good. Now listen to me because this is important Richard. Can you move?”

Richard didn’t do anything for a minute, thinking. Could he move? He knew he was hurt but nothing that would incapacitate him. He was just tired. So damn tired. Everything felt heavy. He didn’t understand how he ended up on the floor. But Daina was waiting for him to do something, respond in some way so he did.

Slowly Dick moved his good arm underneath him and tried to push himself up. The boy made a keeling noise in the back of his throat. The fire in his side spread and threated to pin him to the floor once more. 

Dick laid back down to catch his breath. The room was spinning around him. 

“It’s fine, just try again. You can do this Richard, just take deep breaths.”

His good arm shook with exertion but eventually he was sitting up and leaning against the wall, panting. His lungs burned and his vision darkened for a moment but he did it. 

“Good job, good job. Okay just take it slow, you’re doing great.” Daina didn’t stop talking to him, probably to keep him from relapsing into, whatever it was that happened. 

Richard could feel his eyes rolling up into his head, and he fought with everything he had not to pass out again. “Daina?” Dick could hear the slur in his words. 

“I’m right here okay. I’m right here. You’re okay.”

Dick didn’t feel okay.

“What happened?”

“What do you remember?”

Dick didn’t like that she answered his question with a question but he was to disoriented to complain. “I don’t…. I was walking into the room and then I woke up on the floor, with you talking to me.”

Daina didn’t look pleased, but she didn’t say anything against him. “I’ve been monitoring your vitals since I first connected with you, back in the hospital. You have lost a lot of blood Richard, just barely enough to not be life-threatening. The aid syringes have been doing a decent job of building back your blood supply, but by the looks of things you just lose it all about as fast as it can be replaced. I think that was a contributing factor to what happened. The amount of first aids you’ve been using in such a short amount of time didn’t help either, I imagine.” 

“You’re stalling.” Dick closed his eyes to keep the room from spinning.

“You suffered a seizure. Seeing your vitals go off like that on your rig, I thought you were having some form of stroke at first. Scared the shit out of me.”

Dick stared at her uncomprehending. “A seizure?”

“Yes. I’m not entirely sure what triggered it, but I can only assume blood loss and shock had a big part of it.”

The boy could only nod. It made sense. He closed his eyes again.

“Hey, don’t do that.” Daina spoke firmly, but not unkindly. “I need you to start moving again. You’re almost there just a bit further and I can help you. I can’t do that unless you make it to me.”

“Tired.” 

“I realize that, I really do, but you’re going to end up dead if you don’t get up now.”

Dick sighed. He didn’t want to move. He wanted a nap.

“Richard.”

“I know, I know. I’ll get up, just, give me a minute.”

They sat in silence for a while. Before Dick spoke again.

“Daina.”

“Yes?”

“Would you keep talking to me. Please. Just a bit longer. I wanna hear the end of the story.”

The woman on the other line, huffed but smiled. “So this project is going to be a huge deal if it succeeds, or cause us to become the laughing stalk of the whole department. So of course he wanted to bring a cat into it. But I guess that’s just what brothers do…”

~

It took another twenty minutes before Dick could get off the floor. He still clung to the walls as he walked, and he had to stop constantly to catch his breath but he was getting to his destination. Albeit more slowly than before. 

Daina remained with him this time, switching to auto comm. and keeping him company. The audio constantly cut in and out but it remained online for the time being. She talked to him as he walked and encouraged him when he stopped. She didn’t yell at him to hurry or scold him for needing to rest. 

Dick figured she was telling the truth when she said he scared her. The small teen felt guilt close his throat. He didn’t mean to scare her. He didn’t mean for a lot of things to happen.

Richard noted with passive interest that he was leaving an alarming trail of blood behind him. He didn’t voice his thoughts to Daina, he didn’t want to scare her away. 

He limped quietly, listening to her stories about her time on the station with her brother. Their misadventures as children back on Earth. Their expeditions to Titan for the first time.

It was nice.

He focused on that rather than the burning pain that was growing with intensity in his waist with each step. Dick bit into his lip when he stumbled to keep from crying out, but his breath was becoming more and more ragged. If he cared to listen more carefully he might have notice how wet the inhales and coughs were getting. 

If he cared.

He tried not to care.

He didn’t care at all. 

Just listened to Daina’s stories. 

They were good stories.

They made him want to laugh.

It hurt too much to laugh right now, or smile. 

When did his face start hurting?

Daina seemed to care though. She heard him, he could tell. Her words of encouragement became more frequent, and the promise of relief as soon as he made it. That he was doing good, so good, just keep going now. Just a little further.

One major surprise though was the complete lack of enemies. None of the pods had been touched, no necromorphs were in the area, it was just them. It was a blessing considering Dick couldn’t move without vertical help and no ammo in his inventory. If anything came up against him now, he was not surviving the encounter.

Finally, after traversing the maze of frozen corpses, Dick had made it to the exit. The door was finely crafted with two figures etched into the metal standing guard. The door opened to a barely lit, metallic colored, room with a machine in the middle. The temperature was higher in here, Richard could no longer see his breath.

The machine in the middle compiled of several arms moving at random attempting to grab something that wasn’t there. A circular hole was in the middle, big enough to fit the pods found in the labyrinth behind him.

“This is it. Now your exit is above you, you’ll have to turn off the gravity control in the room and float to the opening in the ceiling.” 

Richard looked up to see what she was talking about and sure enough there was his exit. About thirty feet above him. One singular closed hole the size of the pods and himself.

“This room is where they transport the newly frozen corpses in their pods for safe keeping. Based on recent records though the transport has been experiencing issues with keeping the bodies on the tracks so the system was cleaned out. There should be nothing in your way when you go up.”

The boy nodded and used the railings to make his way to the center of the room. The machine in the middle had a computer screen in front awaiting commands from its user. Dick had to blink hard to bring the words into focus. Getting into any computer system was second nature to him, but a new problem had presented itself when he attempted to shut down the gravity control.

“Shit.”

“What is it?”

“The gravity controls are locked out. While I can say my acrobatic skills are something to be admired I don’t think I’m in a position to demonstrate at the moment.”

“Shit.”

“Yeah”

“Okay just, let me think. I’ll try and bypass the lock from my end. Do what you can on yours but don’t strain yourself.”

The line went quiet as Daina worked. 

Richard wandered around the room using the railing for support and looking at the floor beneath him. The machine was big, needing two floors to work. Spotting a lift on the far side of the machine Dick made his way towards it.

On the ground level was an impressive looking reactor. Dick whistled. Blue light shines behind three large metal spheres that rotated around it. 

‘No doubt doing an excellent job of keeping the gravity in the room stable.’

“How bout we fix that.” 

Richard shimmied along the wall until he found what he was looking for. A wired control panel. 

Ripping the casing off the wall and exposing the cables Dick set to work. From there it was easy, stopping the spheres from rotating and cutting off power supply to the core. Once finished Dick could feel his tired bones grow lighter. The only thing keeping him from flying weightlessly off the ground were the magnets in his boots.

The little bird smiled as his hair floated around him and the burden was temporarily lifted from his muscles.

“Alright, flying lesson part two.”

Releasing the magnets in his shoes the boy wonder used his suit to steer toward the opening in the ceiling.

“Daina, I did it.”

When he pulled up the video feed all he was meet with was static.

“Daina?”

Coming through the ceiling brought Dick into another room with nine more sealed holes at the top. Containers and objects that where not bolted to the floor floated aimlessly along with the boy. 

“Daina, can you hear me? Daina what happened? All I’m getting is static. Daina?”

After the continued silence stretched on the boy gave up. 

"She'll call back when she's ready." Dick tried to reassure himself.

Maneuvering himself to land on the catwalk attached to the walls of the circular room the boy made it. Upside down but he made it. Richard grabbed the rails of the walkway and set his feet on the floor. The magnets in his boots clunked and scraped the steel floor as he struggled to pick up his feet to move to the control panel on the far wall.

Opening the panel and turning the gravity back on everything in the room fell. Dick could feel the weight return to his body and grimaced as he fought to stay upright. 

A call came through the rig and Dick sighed in relief upon seeing Daina’s face on the screen. The relief was short lived when the boy noticed how frustrated she looked and the poor quality of the call.

“Daina?”

“Richard? Dammit! Tiedemann managed to jam our signal again. I’m doing what I can to override it but I think their jamming it from a mobile device.” Daina turned and yelled to someone off screen. “Someone get me the frequency on that jammer. They must have that damned gunship positioned near our compound.”

“So now what? Change of plans?”

“No, if they knew where we were, they’d have killed us by now.” The screen cut out a moment before resuming the chat. “Shit! Signals fading!”

Daina was typing rapidly on a keyboard in front of her. “Listen, there’s a computerized shop in the next room. Go to that. I managed to hack into the servers and left you a few things that may help with your injuries. Follow your locator and hurry, don’t know how much longer our lucks gonna hold ou-” 

Static filled the screen and cut off the chat.

Dick breathed hard through his nose to keep from screaming in frustration. 

After calming himself down the boy walked around the room till he found the door Daina was talking about. Sure enough a computerized shop lay on the other side. Dick activated the hologram and found the storage. The bright blue of the hologram stung the boy’s eyes, but the contents in the storage area brought a different type of tear to them.

Inside waiting patiently for him to activate the contents were five large aid syringes, and a large, fully packed first aid kit. Ammo for his plasma cutters, so much ammo. 

He didn’t know how he was going to fit it all in his inventory. Dick was confused however when he spotted a separate set of ammunition in the storage as well.

“Pulse rounds?” 

His unspoken question was answered when he saw the weapon next to it lying in wait for him.

“No f@#king way.”

The Pulse Rifle was a heavy weapon to have. Usually only given to security and officers out in the planetary colonies or ships. Bruce would not approve but Dick couldn’t keep the smile of his face, even as his cheeks burned. Typing the pictures on the screen the items shown were materialized onto the pad next to him. 

Dick felt light headed and giddy as he picked the new gun up. His good arm shook from the weight and his shoulders burned but it was a thing of absolute beauty. He lifted the gun, swaying on his feet, setting the butt of it against his shoulder and aimed at the far wall as well as he could with one hand. It was sleek, three barrels that would rotate as you fired, rounds that could tear through necro flesh like tissue paper, and the best part, no recoil. 

There wasn’t nearly as much ammo for it compared to the plasma cutter but that hardly mattered. Dick got a new gun and he was itching to test it.

Taking his prizes to the floor with him, Dick made effective use of the med kits. Stripping off his suit and armor showcased a collection of multiplying injures. 

His previous dislocated shoulder was slightly swollen and dark from broken blood vessels under his paled skin. The unnatural lean of his chest and visibility of his bruised ribs only further proved his lack of a decent meal in a while. A back in varying shades of colors and an arm that looked alarmingly inflamed with his break and the deep gash that wrapped itself lovingly around his waist was just at the top of his long list of concerning ailments.

The boy had to hold his breath to keep his ruined hands steady as he threads a need that was provided in the first aid kit. Pinching the open wound on his side together Richard began the lengthy process of sewing himself shut, made more difficult with only one hand. 

Slowly the shaking began to subside as the higher grade of aid syringes went through his bloodstream, replacing the blood cells lost and keeping anything else from breaking open with movement. 

A numbing effect was immediate once the agent was introduced to his system; blocking off all painful signals from reaching his brain and relaxing his muscles. This made disinfecting and rewrapping his arm easier to deal with. 

By the end of it, Dick had taken on the appearance of a mummy. From the bridge of his nose and cheek, to the wrapping on his chest and waist, right down to the whole of his hands that he had torn to shreds during his first breakdown.

Sighing in relief, the teen stood prepping to climb back into the suit when he glanced at the screen of the shop. 

Richard didn’t think it would get better until he noticed the last present Daina had left him in the stores storage. Reading the specs the boy wanted to kiss the woman in question for her generosity. 

The Security Suit was an EarthGov issue, dark blue grey armor plating and green reinforced fabric came together to form a very stylish uniform. That and it had twice the protective plating and less bulky than the engineer’s suit he currently had. 

Activating the hologram of the suit cause a small room to open in the back of the store. Dick smirked again and climbed inside allowing the machine to remove the old suit and replace it with the new one and resetting the rig on his back. 

The process took less than twenty seconds with only a few painful moments as the sleeve got caught on his injured arm. Richard had to blink the spots out of his vision and exited the small room. Examining himself in the stores mirror Richard had to admit. He looked good. Well considering.

Moving in his new suit and testing some of the common features with his rig, Dick deemed himself ready to go.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Blood, Gore, Seizures, injury detail, I think that's it. 
> 
> Not gonna lie that part in the game made me throw my controller at the screen. easily the scariest section for me. I always had it set in mind how I want this chapter to play out but it was much harder to write. I did my best in describing the feeling of waking up after a seizure but I'm no where near an expert in this area. 
> 
> On another note, I just saw Baby Driver and I'm in love.


End file.
